People began to try to domesticate pigeons and use them for their own purposes since ancient times. Currently, breeders distinguish several types of such tamed birds: decorative, postal, meat and flying. Pigeons of the last variety can be playful - tumbling in the air, performing various kinds of tricks, etc. There is also an elite group of such birds. High-flying pigeons, which have been selected for centuries, are often compared by breeders with racing cars.
The most popular breeds
Compared to other domestic pigeons, such birds fly very high in the air and can fly for a very long time at high speed. Previously, such birds were bred by amateurs and professionals in large quantities. Breeds of high-flying pigeons are still preserved quite a lot. The most popular of them at the moment are:
- Budapest;
- Sverdlovsk;
- Nikolaev;
- Perm;
- Izhevsk.
Budapest breed
Unfortunately, there is no data on when this variety of high-flying pigeons was bred. But, judging by the name, for the first time such a bird began to be kept in Budapest and its environs.
A feature of the pigeons of this species is primarily a beautiful proportional figure. You can learn Budapest bird by:
- medium sized housing;
- plumage close to the body;
- a smooth, equal in length and width to the head with a concave crown and sloping forehead;
- bluish-gray, double-row smooth eyelids;
- long (up to 17 mm) beak of medium thickness;
- medium neck length;
- broad back and chest.
The legs of the Budapest pigeons are short and painted red. The tail of this species of high-flying birds is flat and slightly bent. It has an average length. The same applies to the wings of representatives of this breed. The peculiarity of the Budapest birds, among other things, is the presence of pink blotches on the iris.
Kinds
Photos of pigeons of this breed can be seen below. By color, several species of Budapest high-flying birds are distinguished. Sometimes breeders contain a pure white bird of this breed. Standards do not allow such pigeons to have dark feathers. In a stork Budapest bird, the body is white and the wings are grayish.
Representatives of the belt variety have approximately the same coloration. But their wings are distinguished by a bluish-gray hue at the ends. The head of such high-flying pigeons has the same color. The neck of the waist bird is pearl-spotted. There are also varieties of Budapest pigeons with a "wreath" on the neck of gray, white or spotted.
The character of the pigeons of this breed is active and lively. Their flight is very high, circular and long.
Sverdlovsk breed
The ancestors of these pigeons were once a bluish-pockmarked bird bred in pre-revolutionary Yekaterinburg. The standards of this breed were approved in Sverdlovsk in 1981. The color of these pigeons can be different. However, on the exterior, they differ primarily in the following features:
- dense plumage;
- long body - up to 37 cm;
- stubbly oval-shaped head;
- medium-sized beak, the color of which may be black or dark gray;
- strong short neck;
- rounded chest and flat back;
- dense and narrow tail with 14 steering feathers;
- small bare red legs.
The shields of these birds are rounded, and the eyelids are gray and narrow. According to the color of the feather, Sverdlovsk high-flying pigeons of blue, black and brown-throated are distinguished. There are also completely bluish representatives of this breed. Such pigeons are called deaf.
Sverdlovsk bird flies actually very high. The pigeon of this breed that has risen into the sky cannot even be seen with the naked eye. At the same time, the Sverdlovsk bird can fly without rest for about 7 hours. Pigeons of this breed, among other things, are also very well oriented in space. They rise into the air in a flock, but at a height they fly apart one at a time.
Nikolaev pigeons
Where exactly this breed came from is not known for certain. Some researchers suggest that it was bred by crossing local pigeons with a bird from neighboring countries. In any case, officially the Nikolaev breed was registered in 1910. Since then, it began to breed in our country in almost all regions.
The exterior features of these pigeons are:
- average body size;
- elongated body;
- raised chest;
- dry, smooth narrow head;
- short, often thick and convex neck;
- long, closed, wings not too tightly attached to the body;
- broad, straight, elongated back;
- wide tail.
The color of these pigeons can be very different - white, pockmarked, black, mixed. But most often breeders contain such birds with cherry red or gray (with black stripes on the sides) plumage.
Flight at the Nikolaev pigeons crescent. In the air, this bird throws its wings forward and holds above its head in parallel. The inner ends of the wings at the same time form a sickle. The tail of these pigeons in flight open very wide.
Perm bird
This breed was also bred at the beginning of the XX century. and is considered one of the best high-flying in our country. The ancestors of this bird were local Perm pigeons and birds brought by breeders from Izhevsk and Sarapul.
The breed standards for this bird are as follows:
- compact body of medium size - up to 34 cm;
- strong streamlined body;
- smooth dense plumage;
- medium-sized head with a wide forehead;
- narrow, white or pink eyelids;
- powerful, raised chest;
- straight, broad shoulders;
- long narrow wings lying on the tail;
- narrow rectangular tail.
The color of Perm pigeons, like most high-flying ones, can be different. However, the pattern on the body of such a bird, according to the standards, should be symmetrical. Breeders breed monophonic pigeons of this breed. The color of such birds, according to the standards, must be symmetrical.
Perm pigeons can be:
- forearms - with a white head or tail;
- hryvnias (with a spot on the neck);
- monochromatic - yellow, red, white, black.
The peculiarity of this breed is, among other things, and the fact that it is great for breeding in areas with a harsh climate. These pigeons fly in a circle, as part of a flock. In the sky, this bird rises very high. At the same time, it is distinguished by simply excellent memory. In the article you can see a photo of the pigeon of this breed.
Izhevsk variety
This breed was also bred at the beginning of the XX century. Like Sverdlovsk, Izhevsk pigeons rise so high that they are not visible to the naked eye. In appearance, representatives of this breed are very similar to Perm. And no wonder, because they were one of the founders of this variety.
The main pedigree features of Izhevsk pigeons are:
- medium-length body - up to 35 cm;
- strong constitution and wide chest;
- long wings (should not reach the tail);
- a small head, in females having an elongated, and in males a rounded shape;
- short paws;
- plumage without drawing;
- small beak;
- black, slightly bulging eyes;
- rectangular narrow tail.
The color of these pigeons is not as rich as that of Perm. The pen they can have only black, white or red. Breezy pigeons of this breed are not bred. Standards allow only spots on the neck.
These pigeons fly in a flock and can survive in the air without rest for up to 2 hours. They can spend up to 15 hours a day in the sky. If a pigeon of this breed breaks off from the flock (for example, in bad weather conditions), it will most likely unfortunately die. Sometimes lost representatives of this breed still fly home. But this happens, unfortunately, quite rarely. Experienced breeders and amateurs advise to let out Izhevsk pigeons fly only in fine weather.
Maximum flight altitude
Breeders and amateurs, of course, often arrange competitions including high-flying pigeons. Such competitions are held both in our country and abroad. In this case, the main factor determining the winner is, of course, the flight altitude. All the breeds described above show very good results in this parameter. Such birds are able to rise to a height:
- Budapest - up to 1.5 km;
- Sverdlovsk - 1700 m;
- Nikolaev - 1-1.5 km;
- Perm - 1.5 km;
- Izhevsk - 1.7 km.
Instead of a conclusion
The breeds described above are the most popular in our country. But of course, amateurs and professionals today contain representatives of other, no less outstanding varieties. Pigeons also fly very high, for example, of such breeds as Kazan, Odessa, Mordovian, Pakistani, etc.