The Antwerp Smerle is a
breed
A breed is a specific group of breedable 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 seve ...
of
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 pi ...
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 m ...
.
Antwerp Smerles, along with other varieties of
domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the
rock pigeon
The rock dove (''Columba livia''), also sometimes known as "rock pigeon" or "common pigeon", is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon", although the rock dov ...
(''Columba livia''). The Smerle was one of the breeds used in the development of the
Racing Homer
Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specialized, 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 tr ...
.
See also
*
List of pigeon breeds
This is an alphabetical list of pigeon breeds; these are exclusively breeds of the domestic pigeon (''Columba livia domestica''). Other Columbidae species (e.g., the Barbary dove, ''Streptopelia risoria'') have been domesticated and developed in ...
Antwerp Smerle Breed Guide - Pigeonpedia
References
External links
*
{{Domesticated-pigeon-breed-stub