Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

Unlike conventional pigeon races, wherein the finishing points differ, One Loft Races have the same starting and finishing points. Pigeons, typically less than six weeks old, are taken to the special loft to be used for the event before they can fly. The birds then slowly learn to fly and recognise this loft as their home. The training, food, and conditions are the same for all the birds. With the usage of electronic timing systems, the winners of One Loft Races are decided by as little as 100th of a second.

It is a smoggy April morning in Signature Bridge, Delhi. Three men unshackle 26 trained homing pigeons kept in two rectangular cages on an empty ground. Two more men hold a banner that says Karnataka Homing Pigeon Federation in English and Kannada. As both the cages are simultaneously opened, the birds slowly walk out, flap their wings and take off. From this starting point, where they have never been before, they need to find their way back to their respective lofts, over 1,500 kilometres away. Once they reach their destinations, the distance and velocity of the birds are measured to determine the winner of the race. Among the participants is Red Rocket, a three-year-old grey-headed pigeon with a white-andbrown plume. Like his competitors, he, too, bears a red seal on his wings and two rubber bands on his legs. After nine days of flight, on April 24, 2022, the pigeon reaches his loft at Shanker V’s residence in Hennur Gardens, Bengaluru. Shanker, a pigeon fancier, immediately removes the bands from his bird’s legs to reveal an identification number. He clicks a photo and sends it to the organisers, who verify the numbers, measure the distance covered and the velocity of its flight. 

Red Rocket, they announce, has flown 1,741 kilometres at 251 metres per minute, making him the winner. The pigeon had never been this far from his nest. Yet, he does what he always has: find his way back home. 

This extraordinary capability is a result of magnetoreception, wherein animals and birds orient and navigate using the earth’s magnetic field. At one point, humans selectively bred pigeons for their extraordinary ability. This led to the creation of a breed of homing pigeons, used for communication and later racing.