A family passionate about pigeons

Pigeon fanciers: Derryk (right) and Mark

Some consider pigeons to be like rats in the sky but for the Braithwaite family they're more like feathery friends.

Retired joiner Derryck Braithwaite, his son Mark and grandson Thomas are all pigeon fanciers.

A collective passion that began with his father, East Yorkshire-born Derryck has been a pigeon fancier for 61 years.

It's a hobby that has naturally been passed down the family tree to the fourth generation.

Between them they have around 130 birds at their loft in Reighton varying from Mealy, Mosaic and Blue Bar to Red Checker and Dark Checker type pigeons and they're not what you would expect to see patrolling the streets:

"These are a lot bigger," said 38 year-old Mark, a car mechanic in Bridlington. "The ones that you see on the street they're just real small scraggly things."

PIGEON FACTS The technical name for a domestic pigeon is Columba livia, which is a Rock Pigeon or Rock Dove Pigeons can reach flying speeds of up to 50 mph They live on average 3-5 years in the wild. Domesticated pigeons can live for 15 years but some have been known to live for up to 35 years Pigeons have just 37 taste buds, so almost no sense of taste When drinking, pigeons take a small sip and then tilt their heads back to swallow the water Queen Elizabeth II is patron of The Royal Pigeon Racing Association and keeps pigeons at the Royal Lofts at Sandringham Pigeons have been used to carry secret messages during wartime. During World War II, 32 pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal, Britain's highest award for animal bravery

Among their favourites include a prize-winning Mosaic pigeon called Monica, which was named after the wife of a deceased friend, and a Yellow bird that Thomas calls SpongeBob taken from the American TV cartoon, 'SpongeBob Square Pants'.

"I like the Mosaics, it's something about it. When [Monica] was a baby it took your eye straight away. It's the colouring really that gets me," said Mark.

The Braithwaites regularly enter their pigeons at shows across the country and have won numerous prizes including one recently at a show in Doncaster.

"There's people from Scotland, Wales and all over, they all bring [there pigeons]," said Mark.

"It's just a matter of having the best pigeon on the day and if you're lucky enough, well it's just like winning at Crufts with the dogs."

However it's not all high flying for the Braithwaites. Long-term contact with pigeons has led to a medical condition called Pigeon Lung for Derryck and, even though the pigeons are cleaned daily and vaccinated against disease, Mark says there will always be a health risk associated with the hobby:

"My dad has to be careful how long he spends in here. He wears a mask if he's going to be in for long periods.

"The pigeons are kept clean and so it's disease free really, it's just the dust that there is that gets in your chest after a while, which causes Pigeon Lung. But that's the risk you take."