The liberator

In the Northeast, the racing season for pigeons born this year — a.k.a. young birds — begins in August and runs through late October. Birds more than 1 year old race in the spring and fly farther, sometimes 500 miles or more.

The sport is more prominent in warm-weather states like Florida and Texas. But the Central Jersey Combine, which coordinates the local competitions, has clung to its standing as one of the country’s largest pigeon-racing organizations, said Gene Yoes, a retired lawyer who trains pigeons in Montana and publishes Racing Pigeon Digest, a national magazine.

The start of the competition — the so-called liberation — can be as tense as it is spectacular.

The birds soar and hook, undulating across the sky before orienting east toward home. On a good day, they will fly about 60 miles per hour, although champions with the benefit of a strong tailwind have reached speeds of nearly 100 m.p.h.

This year, Daniel Quinn is Central Jersey’s designated liberator, a title he said can draw quizzical looks.

“It sort of has its moments,” Mr. Quinn said of the $425 overnight gig, which he took on last year and which supplements his income hanging drywall. “I started out just emptying the old crates out of the trailer. The liberator that was there quit, so they asked me if I could go.”

On race-day Sundays, Mr. Quinn, 61, sleeps overnight in the cab of a truck that can hold crates for more than 4,000 birds. Soon after dawn, he and the driver use levers to release the contestants more or less at once during the roughly 20 races held each year.

The first race of the 10-week young bird season began at the Flying J truck stop in Frystown, Pa. From there, the pigeons traveled different routes and distances to reach their home coops.

An average flight speed is calculated with the individual distance traveled by a bird and the time it took. Birds with the fastest pace are crowned the winner.

“When they come home, it’s just a beautiful thing,” said Vinnie Torre, whose coop in Wayne, N.J., Hillside Loft, is named for his father’s old barbershop in Hoboken. “It’s therapy, actually.”

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