How to tell the difference between a good breeder and a good competitor?
For many fanciers, the pigeon’s eye is the most interesting part to study. Who doesn’t want to look at multi-colored eyes with a thick rich texture, streaks and spots, etc.? There are fanciers who call themselves eye specialists, where the eye is a major part of what they look at in a bird. They think they are able to select the birds on this single characteristic alone. There are also those who have no interest in the eyes or (don’t want to) study them at all. The latter are another group of people who would like to look into the eyes, but have no idea what to look for.
When it comes to the differences between the best pigeons, then the eye variation is the biggest group. This shows at the same time that there is no clear standard for the highest quality eye for a breeder and/or competitor. There is variation in the iris (3) and the research circle or orientation circle (2) (possible orientation lies behind the latter. This has not been scientifically proven to date) among all top birds. We can use the pigeon’s eye as a mirror of the body. You can read the health status of the pigeon very well. If the bird is sick, you can tell by the color of their eyes. Usually then the color is pale. The outer black ring (4) around the iris is less visible or even disappears.
A large pupil will never appear in the best pigeons. The pupil (1) should preferably be as small as possible. The iris of the top pigeons is full of color and grain. It’s like solid art paint, as if the iris is sticking out above the pupil! In such birds, the offspring is often very good in competitions, so we can conclude that it is an important quality for the breeder to have a very thick grain structure of the iris.
Of course, this is not always the standard. The father of a top pigeon may have a normal iris. But when we look at his mother, it is very likely that she has the qualities of a beautiful thick iris. In many cases, it is she who passes on her super competitive qualities to her generation. By which we can conclude that the above pigeons usually have a thick iris, a small pupil and a slightly wider orientation circle around the pupil. Super breeders have a thicker iris and more color and more often black spots and dashes in the iris. The orientation circle is slightly wider on super racers and usually black instead of yellow or gray.
- Pupil
- Research/Orientation Circle
- Iris
- Outer Black Ring
The eye theory, or “eye” theory, is one of the most controversial issues among all sporting pigeon theories. However, some top fanciers claim that the secret to selecting the best racing pigeons lies in the eyes.
Heidi, a magnificent pigeon descended from the famous Kaasboer line in Belgium, is one of the best racing females money can buy. Applying some of the basic principles of eye theory, what do the eyes of this top racing pigeon tell us?
Heidi (Belg 6033117-07), is one of the best racing females and mother of many good birds, she comes from the famous Kaasboer line of the Belgian champion Gaston van de Wouwer.
Heidi’s genetic strength as a breeder has now dominated for three generations. The owner
Gerhard van Aswegen of GJT Lofts says he always looks for balance in the eye, with strong but not “overwhelming” pigmentation.
Heidi’s eye colors show an even orange/red pigmentation on a yellow background. The soft green granulation blending into the yellow base is seen as a sign of quality by eye sign specialists.
Eye Theory – First Round
The pupil is known as the first circle of the eye. Heidi’s pupils are quite small and centered in a spaciously pigmented ‘open eye’ – indicative of a quality middle and long distance competitor.
Pupils of high-quality pigeons should be intensely black, not gray, as this is one of the indicators of good eyesight. Pupils are usually expected to be well rounded, but sometimes in between
Eye Theory – Second Round
The “circle of adaptation” – the second circle – rests on the outer edge of the pupil. Best seen through a magnifying glass. It occurs in all variants of gray, brown and black, varying in size and strength. It may also be absent. An extremely strong adaptation circle can be seen in Heidi’s eye: it is wide, very dark and deep.
My own observation is that better results are obtained when a strong adaptation circle is used to “lift” the fading circles and off-colors seen in the adaptation circle of some promising pigeons that do not have the quality of the eye marks of the greats breeders.
Eye Theory – Round Three
The “correlation circle” is often various shades of gray and brown. Sometimes there is the same yellow or blue base color that shows through the upper layers of the entire eye.
The differently colored parts in the correlation circle may vary in size and texture, and the outer borders or edges of the circle may form the division between the third and fourth circles. A good circle of correlation should form a harmonious balance with the rest of the eye.
The colors should not appear cloudy, but should be clearly defined and bright, as in Heidi’s eyes. In practice, wider circles are connected to smaller circles.
Eye Theory – Round Four
The “iris circle” covers the largest part of the eye. Heidi’s iris pigmentation becomes more dominant around the entire eye, farthest from the pupil, and has the sought-after appearance of volcanic and moving lava. Ridges, canals and grooves are well embedded and distributed over most of the ocular surface.
Strong pigmentation slightly invades the fifth or outer circle. This is thought to be related to having enough blood and oxygen.
Note that too much granulation (closed eye) would upset the balance between the five eye circles and make the pupil unnaturally small.
Theory of the eye – the fifth circle
The fifth circle is the last visible part of the color. In my experience, a non-existent fifth circle and eyes overflowing with pigmentation are sure signs that breeding success will lead us into trouble.
Heidi’s eyes are like gems to the eye connoisseur. Nevertheless, the theory needs further investigation and, as Van Aswegen says, pigeons should never be culled just because of certain eye signs!
We hope you enjoyed this article. Check out more interesting articles and important events. Expect new information about the condition of the racing pigeons soon.