- South Tempe resident Jim Karinek, photo at right, gives his birds an exercise flight every morning around 6. The birds swoop, circle and return home, always appearing to enjoy their few minutes of freedom.
Jim Karinek doesn’t own your average, everyday pet. That’s because the south Tempe resident boards, trains and competitively races pigeons. Those who aren’t familiar with the birds’ legendary abilities probably wouldn’t consider owning their own, but Karinek is intrigued with the birds’ incredible navigation abilities and stamina for long-distance flights.
Homing pigeons have been used for years, including by the U.S. military in World Wars I and II as a means to send messages across thousands of miles.
After being trained, they can navigate back to their homes, using the location of the sun and the earth’s magnetic field, Karinek said.
“I was eight years old when my school bus driver gave me my first homing pigeon,” Karinek said. “It’s a fun hobby, and the birds are unbelievable athletes.”
Karinek said he eventually retired his childhood pastime in high school, but got the homing pigeon bug again when he was attending graduate school at Thunderbird School of Global Management.
“My neighbor still had homing pigeons, so I would help him train them,” he said.
Karinek left to serve in Vietnam after graduating, and when he returned to Tempe, built a pigeon home in the backyard of the property he and his wife had built near Waggoner Elementary School.
“I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said. “I breed my own, but we also went to Belgium in 1980 and imported about 25 to 30 birds.”
Belgium homing-pigeon enthusiasts breed “top flyers,” Karinek said, and import many to the U.S.
“They had the top flyers there; they drove their Mercedes 7,000 miles down the highway to train their birds,” he said. “I went to five or six of the top lofts, and I bought youngsters for about $500 to $600 apiece.
“Out of that, I got three or four excellent birds, and one superb bird.”
It may seem expensive, but Karinek said owners, or “flyers,” get a handsome reward if their pigeon(s) win the race. Arizona hosts several yearly homing-pigeon races, over distances of hundreds of miles.
“My birds have won quite a few trophies over the years,” he said.
To train the pigeons, owners transport the older birds miles away from their home, setting them free to find their way back.
Karinek said after receiving the imported birds, he trains them at a young age in his backyard, getting them used to the area before introducing them to the older birds.
“They get accustomed to where they live, and once they are freed from another location and get their bearings straight, they set out in the right direction,” Karinek said.
As Karinek perused his well-kept pets, he quickly pointed out his top birds, calling out their names through the chicken-wire fence.
“You look for a specific body type – they need a good body type to fly well, especially in long distances,” he said.
The longest race is in Arizona is from Reno, Nev., approximately 610 air-miles away.
“To fly for 12 or 13 straight hours, they need to have the right bodies,” he said.
Starting at about 5 a.m., nearby residents on an early-morning walk may catch a glimpse of Karinek’s prized pigeons. He’s up at 5 every day, releasing the birds for their morning exercise.
“They leave every morning for about 45 minutes to an hour, giving me some time to clean out their cage,” Karinek said. “Then, they all come back to eat – they know they get fed when they return.”
He maintains their cages in hygienic conditions, and keeps a cabinet full of bird medications to keep every pet healthy and happy.
This December, the national homing-pigeon convention of the American Racing Pigeon Union will be at the Grand Hotel, formerly the Pointe at South Mountain, Karinek said.
“We’re going to have close to 400 people come in from all over the country,” he said. “There will be roughly $170,000 we will pay out in prize money.”
