HEADLAND ‒ As the group of homing pigeons circled the sky above, John Ross Helms whistled ‒ the signal that usually brings the birds back to their pen because they associate it with eating.

BRISTOL — On a warm breezy May afternoon, Cass Witkowski, lifted an 8-day-old homing pigeon from its nest in Shamrock Loft — the name he has given his backyard coop behind his Bristol home — and ...