A homing pigeon failed to live up to that name when it turned up some 4,000 miles away from home across the Atlantic Ocean in the USA.
Bob the racing pigeon was supposed to be making his way from Guernsey to the north east of England when he was released about three weeks ago.
However, he went missing and no-one could be quite sure exactly what had happened to him. After all, racing pigeons are supposed to be quite good at this sort of thing, aren’t they?
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Well, the mystery was solved by an elderly man who discovered Bob sitting in his garden in Mexia, Monroe County, Alabama, earlier this month.
When the bird ‘would not leave’ his garden, he called up the local animal shelter, who came along and removed him.
They then checked the microchip and band on the bird, discovering to their shock that it was supposed to be on the other side of the ocean in England.
A spokesperson for the Monroe County Animal Shelter said: "He is doing good. Enjoying his food for sure."
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They explained: "We had an elderly gentleman ask us for help. He had a pigeon with bands show up at his Mexia home. The pigeon would not leave [so] he decided to seek help.
"Crew member Monica Leigh Morris followed the man to his home and was able to safely catch this beautiful bird.
"After arriving back at the shelter both Monica and another crew member Megan Bryan started working on tracking down the owner."
"They were able to get the numbers off the band, but also used our microchip scanner to help track down a webpage called North of England Homing Union.
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"The ladies follow the instructions and were immediately contacted back by the owner – 4,000 miles away in north east of England!
"We are currently working on a game plan to return this champion pigeon to its owner, which was extremely happy to hear from us."
The shelter said that the bird was fine, apart from being a little bit underweight and having some oil on his feathers.
It has been reported that the stray pigeon belongs to Alan Todd, who lives in Tyne and Wear. He reckons that the bird – which may be worth around £1,000 – landed on a ship that then carried it across the Atlantic.
The owner has been reunited virtually with his bird and plans to travel over to the USA to get him back, BBC News reports.
Tom Wood