Training Day "flipping pigeons" (1 Viewer)

[Charles J P]

In the movie training day, I notice as they drive into the gang neighborhood, Denzel says they're flipping pigions to let everyone know he's there. They show this guy clapping and the pigeons seem to lose control of their flight for a second, almost falling from the sky. Is this for real? Is it something people actually do?

 

[Lewis Besze]

Yeah,Is anyone affiliated with gangs here?

 

[Paul D Young]

I saw a Discovery channel documentary about these birds. They were in England and there were clubs of older men that did this with the birds. They received points for how many times the birds would tumble. I'd never seen it before that and then I watched Training Day soon after. I've never seen it live and in person though.

So, to make a long story short: some people really do this with real pigeons somewhere.

 

[Charles J P]

I googled this and couldnt come up with anything on the right topic. If anyone comes up with a link, I would love to see it.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Here's a good link. I have seen something like this on PBS or Discovery.
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/rollerpigeon/

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I saw it first in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (But unlike Training Day, the main character's bird-hobbies advanced the story). So....Um, yeah. People can and do train birds, albeit not to the extreme's of dog training, even though that would rule. Can you imagine a swarm of 10,000 angry crows mercilessly pecking at the eyes of someone who broke into your house?!?!
As for realism: If I lived in the "hood", I would be too busy watching my ass and trying not to get my car stolen to look for a clump of birds that are native to the area, and fly in groups by themselves anyway. A guy with a loudspeaker shouting "SOOO-WEEEE! SOOO-WEEEE! Here comes a PIGGY PIGGY PIGGY!, Hide your stash!".

 

[Garrett Lundy]

(continued) would work better

 

[DennisHP]

My brother raised pigeons when we were young and he had some "Tumblers" that would do exactly what was seen on traing Day and Ghost Dog. It was said that you should not breed a tumbler with another tumbler as the offspring could/would tumble all the way to the ground and "SpLaT!
Here is a link I found about Tumblers:
http://theflyingpigeonloft.50megs.com/