Start them young. Give them a good home so they want to come back. By Malia Wollan “Don’t get too attached,” says Joseph LaQuiere, a 16-year-old youth ambassador for the American Racing Pigeon Union.

Homing pigeons are extraordinary navigators, but how they manage to find their way back to their lofts is still debated. To navigate, birds require a ‘map’ (to tell them home is south, for example) ...