Bronze-Checked Horseman Pouters from the loft of Will Brown
Bronze-checked squeaker
Bronze-checked squeaker. The same bird is pictured directly below a few months older. It turned out to be a hen.
Above: Bronze-checked nestling. The same bird is pictured below just a few months older. This little one turned out to be a beautiful hen.
The inspiration for this project came from the feral pigeons below. I took these photos in a beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain valley. This feral population living there utilizes the high, rock cliff walls of the valley to live and nest in, much like their wild ancestors the Eurasian Rock Dove (Columba livia). This mountain valley is heaven for Cooper's and Sharp-Shinned hawks and these ferals must survive living amongst these predators on a daily basis. This feral population has a high percentage of bronze birds and even a few brown birds and white-flights were observed, but there were no solid whites or heavy white pieds to speak of. I am focusing on this model in my own loft which is also located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I currently fly my birds out of an open loft all year. My birds have no problem outflying the many hawks abundant here. The 2006 numbers of both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks counted at a hawk observation site very near my home were 198 Cooper's hawks and 1,578 sharp-shinned hawks. These totals were made in only TWO months and consisted of only those which flew past the stationary observation point!! Obviously, many more hawks than this are about and this is where I fly my birds.
I allow the raptors to finely hone the already high quality of my birds. As for as I am concerned, any pigeon that can't outfly a hawk isn't worth breeding from anyway. The hawks have done me a great service by providing me with only the best breeding stock. Hawks are part of the real world and when I fly my birds they enter that world. I don't expect my birds to live in some fantasy land like some people do by shooting or harming raptors. Shooting or harming hawks and falcons only makes for inferior pigeons. Some people don't mind breeding poor quality birds, but that's not for me and my birds prove that.
A few Blue Ridge Mountain Ferals
