#BeautifulPigeon #FancyPigeon #BestPigeon
For at least 500 years and maybe more pigeon fanciers have bred wonderfully bizarrelooking pigeons. Today, there hundreds of breeds and colors, and, just like cats and dogs, there are competitions to see who most closely matches their “breed standard." Here are some of the gems of the fancy pigeon world.

5, Cropper.

All pigeons inflate their crops (an organ in their throat that grinds up food) while strutting in front of others, but the croppers take this to the extreme. Their crops are highlydeveloped, and they love to puff their chests out when they’re in play, and not just when they’re trying to find a mate. Despite what looks like a topheavy bird, the fact that the crop is filled with air means that they’re not going to tip over at any moment. Most Croppers have been bred to have a long back, stand up straight, and for their tendency to puff up. Some have other body shapes, but all are bred with the inflatable crop in mind. These breeds actually have more vertebrae and a larger ribcage than the Rock Dove. Croppers are also some of the more affectionate pigeons, known to bond and play with their handlers.

4, Hen.

Bred to look like their namesake, the “Hen” breeds, such as the small German Modena and the massive King Pigeon, look much like chickens on stilts. Their short tails are upright, and their plump bodies and necks curve in such a way that they look more like poultry than pigeons. The larger members of this family are generally grounddwellers and not prone to fly off, and are often allowed outside in chickenlike coops.

3, Archangel.

This is one of the most striking “color” breeds. Their iridescent bodies and contrasting wings create an impressive sight, and it’s not hard to see why this breed was the most popular fancy pigeon in Germany and the Rhine for decades. While the color specifications for the breed standard have changed over the years, the body type has remained largely the same: a stately, large bird, with a wellformed head and proportionate beak. There are many color breeds out there, and they’re some of the most popular “starter” pigeons.

2, Trumpeters.

This diverse group of breeds is showcased primarily for their odd vocalizations and calls, and is known as the “voice” pigeons. Some of the breeds sound trumpetlike, while others make drumming or laughing sounds, but all have sounds that differ from your average pigeon. Though their sounds are important, they’re also judged on looks. Some, like the Arabian trumpeter, look like a fairly standard pigeon. Others, like the Bokhara trumpeter, look like their head was chopped off and they squished another pigeon beneath their ostentatiouslyfeathered feet. (An English trumpeter is featured above.)

1, Tumblers.

No, not Tumblrs! One of the most popular and prized show birds in the Victorian era was a “performance bird”—the Almond Tumbler. Like other Tumblers, the birds were originally bred because of their curious flight patterns. After flying very high up, they do a series of very fast, very impressive back flips, before flying straight up again. Of course, this bizarre flight would make them prime prey for hawks and falcons, but for their breeders, the most brilliant feathers and fastest spins are exactly what’s wanted for the next generation. One family of this breed, the ShortFaced Tumblers (of which the Almond Tumbler is a member), is loved for its very “dainty” look, but this look is at the expense of beak length; the tiny beaks of the family (and the ShortFaced types in other breeds and families) mean that they can no longer effectively feed their young, and the squabs must be handraised.

Despite some of the Fancies looking like a taxidermied light bulb, or a tiny peacock with a snake for a neck, the bizarre traits are only skindeep. In writing The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin crossbred many different pigeon breeds, and showed that within one or two generations, the majority of offspring would resemble “wildtype” Rock Doves—the iridescent head, bluish tint, and barred wings. But the genes of domesticity still exist in our feral pigeons today: The speckled white, piebald, unusuallyshaped, and unusuallysized pigeons of our cities are the result of parents carrying the gene mutations humans exploited generations ago. In the natural habitat of the Rock Dove, these odd colors and shapes would surely be a disadvantage and would be swiftly eliminated by natural predators. But on the brownstone and concrete cliffs of humans, the oddities manage to survive and thrive, and pass their genes on to the next generation.

Created by GIDEON FILMS.