The Danish Suabian 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 ...
.
Danish Suabians, along with other varieties of
domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the
rock pigeon (''Columba livia'').
The breed comes in silver, blue, ash yellow, ash red, black, red, yellow, and brown barred and is either plain-head or peak crested.
Origins
Suabians are thought to have been developed in France and Holland from the laced
Starling
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...
and imported to Denmark around 1840.
[Seymour, Rev. Colin (Ed)(2006) ''Australian Fancy Pigeons National Book of Standards''.]
See also
*
List of pigeon breeds
References
External links
*
{{Domesticated-pigeon-breed-stub