Racing Homer Pigeon Images Download

Pigeon Racing Homer Pigeon Images Download

Download Pigeon stock photos. Affordable and search from millions of royalty free images, photos and vectors. Checker feather pattern of homing speed racing. A couple of carrier pigeons at their nest in the pigeon loft - homing pigeon stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images November 2018, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Stuttgart: A carrier pigeon flies in a carrier pigeon club in an aviary. Download Racing pigeon stock photos. Affordable and search from millions of royalty free images, photos and vectors.

Racing Pigeon
Classification
Conservation status	Common
Country of origin	Belgium
US Breed Group	Flying
Notes
A good racing homer can average 60 mph through the air for hours at a time, and fast racing pigeons have been clocked at 110 MPH.www.speedpigeon.com/racing_pigeon_calculator.htm
Columba livia

A Racing Homer is a breed of domestic pigeon that has been selectively bred for more speed and enhanced homing instinct for the sport of pigeon racing. A popular domestic pigeon breed, the Racing Homer is also one of the newest.

Development[edit]

Racing pigeons were first developed in Belgium and England during the nineteenth century.^[1] They are the result of crossing of a number of other breeds, primarily the Smerle, French Cumulet, English Carrier, Dragoon, and the Horseman (now lost). From the high-flying Cumulet, the Homer received its endurance and its ability to fly for hours on end without tiring. From the Carrier, it inherited the ability to find its way home from great distances.^[1]

History[edit]

Pigeons have been used to carry messages for centuries. However, during the Nineteenth Century, the communication value of the bird—especially for carrying messages during war—became appreciated. Breeders competed to develop ever faster birds. Competitions soon developed, with pigeon racing growing into a popular sport throughout Western Europe and, beginning in the early Twentieth Century, in the United States. Large purses are offered for race winners.

Racing Homer Pigeon Images Download Full

All participants in World War I made use of the Racing Homer's ability to carry messages, with the British alone employing approximately 9,500 birds. The Second World War once more saw the major powers make use of the homing pigeon.

Other uses[edit]

Apart from the sport of racing against each other, fanciers also exhibit racing pigeons at organised shows and have a judge decide who has the better bird. British Homing World holds a show each year where all profits from the event are donated to both national and local charities, including Help the Aged and the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.^[2]

Over the years, the racing pigeon has led to a number of other breeds, such as the American Show Racer, the Giant Homer (bred for utility meat purposes), among others.

In the news[edit]

In February 2008 a pigeon fancier paid a South African record R800,000 for a racing pigeon at auction. The auction, where he bought several other birds, was held after the Sun City Million Dollar Pigeon Race.^[3] A pigeon was in the headlines in 1998 when its owner gave her to a friend in Algeciras, southern Spain, after retiring from breeding racing pigeons. The bird named Boomerang promptly flew the 1,200 miles back home. The bird was given away again but kept returning home. In 2008, after ten years away, the bird returned once again.^{[citation needed]}

Racing Homer Pigeon

References[edit]

Rare Colored Racing Homer Pigeons

^ ^a^bLevi, Wendell (1977). The Pigeon. Sumter, S.C.: Levi Publishing Co, Inc. ISBN0-85390-013-2.
^Bennett, Julia. 'Fanciers flock to pigeon paradise'(Web article). The Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
^'R800 000... for a bird?'. News24.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-13.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Racing_Homer&oldid=978476916'

White Racing Homer Pigeons

2. Mutations‎ > ‎

2.2 The Color Series

There are two mutations known to exist at this locus in pigeons. The colors of the phenotypes caused by these mutations may be modified or hidden by other genetic factors such as recessive white, but every pigeon has is either wild-type or has a mutation at this locus.
The color series consists of three alleles at the color locus on the sex chromosome. That is correct, color is a sex-linked factor in pigeons. This means that males may be heterozygous or homozygous for any color factor (they get a copy from both father and mother) while the females can only be hemizygous (they only get a copy from their father, from their mother females get the W chromosome and not a Z chromosome).
The three phenotypic colors (wild type and the two mutants) and their expression are described below.

Blue (Wild type)

Blue is the most common color found in pigeons, many (if not most) racing homers are genetically blue. The birds on the previous page discussing the pattern series, were all blue base pigeons. In blue pigeons, the basic color is a bluish gray, with the pattern on the shield as well as the tail bar a darker color, almost black. The flights are also dark, but not always as dark as the pattern and tail bar. The symbol for blue is B⁺.

Blue bar racing homer hen. (One of mine - though I no longer have her)

Ash-Red

Ash-red is the most dominant allele of the color series. This mutation causes the base color to change from blue to an ashy gray color, the tail bar and the flights change to the same ashy color, while the pattern on the wing shield turns a brick-red color. This means that in ash-red birds the tail bar and the albescent strip are very difficult if not impossible to see clearly. The symbol for ash-red is B^A.

In heterozygous males (B^A//B⁺ or B^A//b), it sometimes happens that the feathers are lightly flecked with the colour hidden by the ash-red, the flecking is often more noticeable on the flights and tail, though they can occur anywhere. This means that an ash-red cock split for blue might show some blue flecking in the flights and tail.

Ash-red Bar German Beauty Homer (Photo from Wikimedia Commons by Gyyr)

If you want to get technical about it, this mutation causes the inhibition of eumelanin deposits and/or production in the feathers. Eumelanin is the black pigment that produces the blue (grey) and black seen in wild-type birds. The ash-red mutation also causes an increase in the production and deposition of pheomelanin, a red pigment. The combination of these factors causes the red and cream (ash) appearance of this phenotype.

Brown

Lastly, the brown allele at this locus is the most recessive. This mutation changes the base color from a bluish gray to a brown gray. The pattern, tail and flights are a darker brown instead of black. Brown coloration fades considerably in the sun. Sometimes the feathers that are exposed are so bleached that it is impossible to distinguish the tail bar when the tail is folded. Spreading the tail and wings is the only way to see if such bird is brown. Notice on the picture below how light the flights and tail are. Another very important distinguishing factor is that brown birds always show a false pearl eye. A false pearl eye looks rather duller than the eyes of blue and ash-red birds and does not show the intense coloration on the iris (which is either yellow-orange in wild-type birds or blue-white in real pearl eyed birds - more on that later)

Brown Bar Horseman Pouter Hen (Photo from Circus Lofts)

Luckyremote