Houdini the racing pigeon escapes to Panama

?A racing pigeon named Houdini lived up to the name after vanishing on her first cross-Channel race - and eventually turning up in Central America, 5,200 miles from her Midlands home.

Owner Darren Cubberley, of Dudley, released the 10-month-old bird in Guernsey for the competition five weeks ago.

But when she failed to return from the 224-mile journey, Mr Cubberley gave up hope of hearing of her ever again.

But he was stunned after receiving a phone call this week from Panama City telling him Houdini had been found alive and well.

The bird had landed on the roof of Gustavo Ortiz, who read the identity ring on the bird's leg and decided to get in touch.

Because it would be too expensive to transport her home, Houdini will now be making a new life with Mr Ortiz's family.

And Mr Cubberley said it remained a mystery on how the bird had ended up there. "I was gobsmacked. I didn't even know where Panama was," he said of the country which sits between Costa Rica and Colombia.

"I can only assume she hitched a lift on a boat across the Atlantic and the crew must have fed her

"Gustavo e-mailed me some pictures of her and she looks in perfect condition.

"It was hard to understand what Gustavo was saying at first because he speaks little English, but I finally managed to grasp what had happened."

Mr Ortiz will now look after the bird as the costs to transport her back to the UK are too expensive.

Mr Cubberley said Mr Ortiz had been pleased to give the bird a new home and joked she was now learning Spanish.

Experts at the National Flying Club said it was a very unusual case. Birds have been known to cover 1,000 miles, but the normal limit is around 700.