Last Place in Homing : Olympics Pigeon Has Shattering Experience

It was a quiet Sunday morning and Anne Swears’ children were in the living room of their Rolling Hills Estates’ home watching television.

All of a sudden the white pigeon began flying frantically against the large living room window. The window broke. The kids screamed running to their mother.

The pigeon flew through the broken window into the house, banging itself against other windows, finally lighting on the frame of a dining room painting.

Mrs. Swears opened the front door and tried to shoo the bird out of the house.

“Mom that’s not just any old bird. That’s an important bird. He’s so pretty,” said Courtney Swears, 9. “Why don’t we catch it, Mom,” chimed in Courtney’s sister Whitney, 6.

Anne Swears caught the bird,which wasn’t injured, and placed it in an empty bird cage formerly occupied by Blueberry Muffin, the family’s recently deceased parakeet.

On the pigeon’s leg was a silver band with a phone number and the words “Olympic Racer.”

Flew in Opening Ceremony

No one answered the pigeon’s phone number Sunday. It turned out to be Haceinda Heights dentist Mel J. Carpenter’s office number. Contacted Monday Dr. Carpenter explained that he raises racing homing pigeons as a hobby.

Courtney Swears was right. The pigeon was no ordinary bird. It was a famous bird, an Olympic pigeon.

The bird was one of 200 white racing homing pigeons released by Dr. Carpenter at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during last year’s opening ceremonies for the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Saturday night Dr. Carpenter released 100 of his “Olympic Racers” at a wedding held at sunset on a yacht in Marina del Ray.

“The weather was overcast and very dark. The pigeons got disoriented. The bird you have is one of 13 that hasn’t made it home yet,” said the dentist, 36 hours after the pigeons were released.

He told Mrs. Swears that he was glad she called, said he would pay for the broken window and that his sister would pick up the errant pigeon.

“See Mom, I told you that pigeon was no ordinary bird,” said Courtney as she and her sister fed the “Olympic Racer” birdseed provided by a neighbor.

The girls’ two brothers, Clayboy, 4, and Michael, 11 months, looked on in amazement at the big bird in Blueberry Muffin’s old parakeet cage.