Racing pigeon found in my garden

This sweet guy was found wandering around our garden by my daughter. He seemed very tame and he allowed her to pick him up!
He was wearing a red legband with some numbers on it, so after a little research we figured out he was a "racing pigeon".
Sadly for these guys, they are seperated from their partner (pigeons will breed in one pair for life ❤) and they are taken long distances away from their nests, then released to try and find their way (often hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away) from their home. The "winner" of this "race" is the pigeon who returns in the fastest time over the distance.
I suppose this activity was started out of necessity by the famous messenger pigeons of the early days before the pony express.
However I was sad to find out that plenty of these birds never find their way home to their beloved partner and possibly get blown off course, or worse, eaten by predators, or die trying to get home.
This chap was happy to hang in our garden for a bit. Then after a forage, feed and a few sips of water, he took off again in search of his pigeon pair. I do hope he found his way home to her.