In that way, it will not be a cause of stress or alarm to the bird. While inside the cage or loft, take time to pet your bird and talk to it until such time that it becomes comfortable going near your hand or climbing on it. Training the Bird to Move to another Finger As the bird gets used to sitting on your hand, you can now train it to move to the other finger. It is usually competed in a sport called pigeon racing. In this sport, the specially trained pigeon is released and is allowed to cover a specific distance. The winning bird is determined by measuring the rate of travel of each bird. The final decision is arrived at by comparing each bird's speed. The one with the fastest rate wins. More often than not, it is the mental faculties of your racing pigeon that will ultimately help you win the big prizes especially in competitions that involve long flights. Take into consideration the fact that pigeons rely on their internal compass, navigational skills and homing instinct in order to fly to a designated point at the shortest route possible. There are several out there who are just beginning to be fascinated with racing pigeons, but are doubtful to embrace the inkling of breeding them, mainly because of money constraints. If you are among those who wish to start a family of racing pigeons but is currently on a tight budget, read on the following tips and use them as an essential guide. There are basically three types of breeding methods that you can adopt to make sure that you get the best possible pedigree for a racing pigeon: cross-breeding, line-breeding, and in-breeding. In cross-breeding, unrelated pigeons (or which are five generations apart) are made to mate with the hope of giving birth to better pigeons better than their parents. Historically speaking, they were once made as the source of food for humans and their droppings were good fertilizers for the fields. Eventually, their droppings were then utilized to create gun powder. Then again, the pigeons became popularly known to many because of their ability to carry messages home.