By Jordan Neal
sports@bowienewsonline.com

When one looks at a bird flying in the sky, usually we do not see the birds as athletes. For those involved in pigeon racing clubs across the world, the pigeons they raise and breed are world-class athletes.

“They’re a thoroughbred in the sky,” Paul Daniel said. “I mean they are an athlete, it’s just amazing. It’s just like a race horse.”

Chico resident Paul has been around pigeons his whole life. His dad raised them, but did not race them. Paul was drawn to pigeon racing and has been doing it for a little more than 20 years under the Flying D name. Paul and his wife Kimberly recently opened up the Flying D Lakeside Store and RV Park in Bowie.

“We’ve got tons and tons of races we enter all over the country,” Paul said. “Every year we travel to go to these races. It’s been lots of our vacations and stuff because the ‘pigeon family’ has real down home country kind of people. A lot of them are a little older folks, but we’re like a big family. Everybody can’t wait to see each other. Certain parts of the time of year, when everybody gets together for big races, it’s just a big get together and people have a blast.”

The pigeons Paul and his wife Kimberly raise are capable of flying several hundreds of miles at a time at speeds of around 60 miles an hour. They also must have that racer’s instinct that only comes from breeding champion pigeons.

“You’ve got to have a quality pigeon,” Paul said. “Bloodlines. Genetics. It has to be a quality bird. I can’t make a mule a racehorse. I can’t win the Kentucky Derby with a mule.”

Read the full story in the mid-week edition of The Bowie News.