Darwin devoted a good chunk of The Origin of Species to a discussion of variation in breeds of domestic pigeons. As a photo researcher for a biology textbook publisher, I occasionally had to find photos to illustrate Darwin's work in this area. Dissatisfied with the photos I found with the photo agencies, I decided to try getting my own, and I designed and built a special photo box (basically a small, contained photo studio) for the purpose. In 2016, the Grand National Pigeon Show came to Western Massachusetts, and I got the attached photos, among many others. The last photo (a composite with two different breeds) shows the difference in size between one of the smallest breeds and one of the largest. As with domestic dogs, domestic pigeons are all descended from one species, the same pigeons (technically rock doves, Columba livia) that populate cities around the world.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Only a mother could love some of these! Ugly doesn't describe their deformities.
FrayedBear
Level 9
Jan 22, 2021
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A mother or a breeder. Unlike dog breeds, most of which are meant to perform some job or another (at least historically), most pigeons are bred purely for show, with the result that some plainly debilitating traits can become "desirable" (from the breeder's point of view). Many responsible breeders, of course, take obsessively good care of their birds, so what this means in terms of quality of life is not as clear-cut as it might seem.
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