Poland boasts Europe's biggest community of homing pigeon breeders but fails to compete with other countries like Belgium and The Netherlands.
"My birds are athletes. You have to train the pigeons to get them into shape, monitor their health, feed them well," says pigeon fancier Michal Trojczak while opening one of his many cages. More than 70 dusty-blue pigeons take flight, soaring high above snow-covered fields in Królewiec, around 45 km eastern Warsaw.
