The 'old birds' of pigeon racing have vowed to do away with the sport's traditionally male pecking-order, as clubs struggle to attract fledgling talent.

Finding its roots in Australia more than a century ago, the sport was once considered a working-class pastime, but is now facing certain extinction as swaths of racers retire and fly the coop.

"It's hard to attract new people," Rex Perkins, a breeder and racer from Camperdown, in south-west Victoria, said.

"Between computers and iPads and that sort of thing, kids would rather play games than get involved with these sort of sports."

Trading athletics for aviaries more than 40 years ago, Rex has witnessed the demise of the 'old breed' of racers first hand.

Rex Perkins, a pigeon breeder and racer from Camperdown, in south-west Victoria. ( ABC News )

It is a subject that brings him to tears, and one that prompted him to join Pigeon Racing Victoria, an organisation born out of a desire to make the industry more accessible and inclusive for the next generation of 'pigeon pioneers'.

"We want to show the ladies that they can race pigeons just as well as the men can," he said.

"We have a lady here in the Camperdown Club and she flies every bit as well as we do. We have to watch out for her a bit actually."

The organisation has put forward a range of radical initiatives to revive the sport, including the inaugural Victoria Cup — an image building race offering more than $250,000 in prize money over the 2017 season.

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Closer to home, Rex remains hopeful more children will take over the nest, and help secure the future of his beloved sport for the decades to come.

"We're looking for a book or something like that, and our aim is to try and put a copy of it in every school in Victoria," he said.

"We want to give children the opportunity to read about pigeon racing and to understand what it's about."

"What happens too is kids get a pigeon and then mum and dad get involved, and we get a family membership."

Welcoming the next generation of 'pigeon pioneers'

What started as a hobby for Brydon McPhee [L] became a family affair with his father Mark [R] and mother. ( ABC News )

At eight years of age, Brydon McPhee is as scarce as hen's teeth in a sport dominated by old roosters.

He is one of around 15 members of the Horsham Pigeon Racing Club, and the only member under 30.

For his father, Mark, and mother, Tahryn, what started as an offbeat hobby has quickly become a family affair.

"Brydon jumps up and down when he sees one [a pigeon] coming home," Tahryn said.

"He could sit and wait five hours, just to see them fly back 300 or 400 miles, because of the bond they have is just incredible."

Like the pigeon pioneers before them, Mark and Tahyrn fear for the future of the sport.

"It is worrying, you look at our club here, and a lot of the members are at the stage where they're getting ready to hang up their boots," Mark said.

"We want to see more kids involved, [so] just before the start of race season we took the birds to Brydon's school."

"The kids were just amazed, and that's what we would like to see, more people taking an interest in the sport so it will still be around in 50 or 60 years time."

'Even the Queen races pigeons'

Peter Virgona maintains the sport is not divided by class or gender. ( ABC News )

Peter Virgona is what some would call the Gai Waterhouse of pigeon racing, and on his best weekend he took home more than $28,000 in prize money.

"I've been lucky enough to win the Hop the Water and Horsham Cup twice, the Eureka Cup twice, and the South West Cup," he said.

'Pigeon Pete', as he is better known, has been involved in the industry for more than 30 years, and has whittled the sport down to a fine art.

"Pigeon racing really started in Belgium, so we source those pigeons from overseas, buy them off studs [and] try to find the perfect bloodline for racing," he said.

"The really fun part of it is raising those pigeons from an egg, nurturing them up to fly around the house, and then sending them away for a race."

Though prize-winning studs can retail for up to $20,000, the doting 'bird dad' maintains the sport is not divided by class or gender.

"It doesn't have to be expensive, you don't have to have 100 pigeons," Mr Virgona said.

"It really started off as and will always be a poor mans sport, [so] you can have everyone from retirees to tradies racing them."

"I mean, even the Queen races pigeons."