Talk:Carrier pigeon
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14 May 2003, Chennai, India. Whatever is stated in the article about carrier pigeon is true and it pertains to World War II. Almost all articles in "Google Search" on "carrier Pigeon" state the same, and gives predomominance to the purpose for which these birds were trained and their extraordinary abilities to carry messages to and fro. For the pigeon admirer who keeps pigeons as pets, he needs current information on the breed of Carrier pigeons, how to identify them, etc.
It is a show pigeon with a wattle. At the Moore Market at Chennai city in India, recently the bird dealer gave me a pair of tall wattled (cauliflower like) brown pigeons.They were long faced. The legs were long and the feet sturdy. The body was long and stayed at an upward inclination from the horizontal. The neck was long and it resulted in additional height to the bird. The total height was more than 15 inches and the birds were strikingly tall as compared to most other varieties. These pigeons are a treasured addition to the collection of fancy pigeons at my farm. These birds are fancy pigeons and I cannot think of allowing them to be flown to carry messages at the present time. The pair of birds cost me US$50 (fifty) in India. Another pair of shorter variety of Carrier Pigeons that I bought a couple of months earlier cost me US$85 (eightyfive). Perhaps Carrier pigeons would cost less in Great Britain where they are said to be bred for more than 100 years. They are available in different colours.
[Another variety of tall pigeons, I have, is the Pouter. I merely mention this because of the similarity of height. I shall be interested to have discussions on fancy pigeons kept as a hobby by other readers, as I do.]
Dear writer
I am a pigeon fancier from chennai, I would like to know more about your pigeons .
Please contact me, my e mail address is tanveer2202@yahoo.co.in
I think you have a real carrier pigeon, which is a special breed of pigeon named for the way it carries its head. Whoever started this page confused things, I believe, since the ones that carry messages now are properly called homing pigeons. The bird pictured on the pigeon page is a homing pigeon -- probably not what you have. See external site Patrick0Moran 05:34, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)
Aren't carrier pigeons extinct? If not, shouldn't this article clarify as to why many sources say that they are?
- You are probably confusing carrier pigeons with passenger pigeons. Athaler 17:33, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
Strangely enough, carrier pigeons (which, as Patrick says above) that carry their head high, are not extinct. Passenger Pigeons on the other hand, are extinct, having been hunted out of existence in the 19th century. The passenger pigeon is apparenlty etymologically named for their migratory patterns ("birds of passage"), this information only comes from the Talk:Passenger Pigeon page, although it seems to be supported by the bird's taxonomic name. Passenger Pigeons were food, Homing Pigeons are Rock Doves trained for homing, and Carrier Pigeons are show birds. Who knew? --BLP 02:20, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
- And if you really want to get into pigeons, there are a great number of different breeds of them, some (Kings) bred for meat (actually it is the squabs that are butchered), some for their acrobatics (Tumblers), some for their good looks and fancy foot coverings (Duchess), etc. Even the common variety that nests wherever it can find a flat spot with some degree of overhead protection is quite an interesting bird. There are many color variations and many of them include some iridescent feathers that give striking accents of blue and green.P0M 04:31, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Name confusion
This article is in need of fixing. My problem with it is the picture currently being used is of an ornamental "Fancy pigeon" breed called the English Carrier that was originally bred for its "carriage" or upright stance etc. This breed is not one that can be used to carry messages. The article is trying to combine the two. A picture is needed here of a pigeon (homing variety) with a message carrying capsule on its leg. Any reference to the show type English Carrier needs to be removed as there is a seperate article for that variety. Sting au 22:45, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
- Ok, I made a few changes. Important to keep this article page on message carrying topic and not to confuse it with the fancy pigeon breed English Carrier which is a seperate article. Sting au 02:31, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
