epa06135512 Homing pigeons in their pigeon loft in the Natural Breeding Station in Zoersel, Belgium, 10 August 2017. The homing pigeons are bred for their ability to find their way back home over long distances and were used as a messenger pigeons to carry messages also during the wars. Nowadays they are bred as a racing pigeons. The station, founded in 1955, with its 55 lofts and 660 compartments, remains the largest pigeon breeding station in the world with more than 12,000 birds. EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ