The Carrier or English Carrier is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

fancy pigeon Fancy pigeon refers to any breed of domestic pigeon, which is a domesticated form of the wild rock dove (''Columba livia''). They are bred by pigeon fanciers for various traits relating to size, shape, color, and behavior, and often exhibited at p ...

developed over many years of

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...

. Carriers, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons, are all descendants of the

rock dove The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domes ...

(''Columba livia''). They have a long slender body, with a long neck in proportion to the rest of the body, and distinctive features including a rounded hard

wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa **''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia **Black wattle, c ...

History

The breed was developed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from a combination of non–European breeds, including the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Baghdad carrier Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

s, and the

pouter The Pouter pigeons are domesticated varieties of the rock dove, ''Columba livia'', characterized by a very large, inflatable crop. They are kept as ornamental or fancy breeds, valued for their unusual appearance. There are many varieties of pout ...

. The largest of the flying pigeon breeds, the Old English Carrier was originally used for sending messages. By the mid 19th century, the points in the standard of the English Carrier were deemed to have been achieved, and the breed was praised for its "perfectness to which all the points most admired have been brought". At this point the colors of the breed were limited to black, white and dun (a brownish grey color). Today, the English Carrier is strictly a show pigeon, and is not the modern

homing pigeon The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selective breeding, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over e ...

. This modern homing pigeon is a breed known as a

Racing Homer Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained homing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance. The time it takes the animal to cover the specified distance is measured and the bird's rate of travel ...

, a breed which was bred from eight different pigeon breeds including the English Carrier.

Description

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

wrote of the Carrier in ''

The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication ''The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication'' is a book by Charles Darwin that was first published in January 1868. A large proportion of the book contains detailed information on the domestication of animals and plants but it al ...

'', "This is a fine bird, of large size, close feathered, generally dark–coloured, with an elongated neck". Darwin compared the dimensions of the breed to the

, showing the length of the Carrier to be nearly double that of the rock dove. It was also found that the English Carrier could open its mouth wider than the rock dove, as compared to . The English Carrier is typically about in height, with a long, slender body. The breast bone should be straight and long, as should the back which should slope towards the rump. They have a slender neck which should appear long in proportion to the rest of the bird and the legs should be solid, with no feathering below the knees. The English Carrier has typically deep red eyes, and a distinctive

which should be large but firm with a rounded shape and a powdery white finish on the surface. The beak is long and thick, and is of the type known as a box beak. The National English Carrier Club standard states that ideally the distance from the pupil of the eye to the tip of the beak should be not less than in females, and in males of the breed.

References

External links

{{commons category, English Carrier

Pigeon breeds Pigeon breeds originating in England

History

Description

See also

References

External links