Breed Characteristics Overall Impression The German Long faced

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1 Text: N. Akkerman, The Netherlands Photos: Uwe Held, Germany In General The German Long Faced Tumbler is closely related to the English Magpie. Not because of recent crossings, no, they both spring from the same roots. This is most easily seen in the Magpied variety, although the German birds are noticeably smaller more slender and elegant in built. The pure flying capability of the Breed is now nonexistent, however the Modern birds still show strength and speed in their outward appearance. Head study of a white German Longfaced Tumbler with a perfect headshape and length. The throat is wanted a bit more clean. The upper eyelid is somewhat pulled back, so the eye is not round, an error often seen in the German Longfaced Tumbler. History The Breeders in the Mid German cities of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Celle and Brunswick (Braunschweig) preferred certain colours and markings in their pigeons. This resulted in breeds like the Magdeburg Whitetails and White flight, white tails; the Brunswick Bearded Tumblers and the Celle White flights. The last one is long since gone and was probably never modernised. Apart from this, there was always an interest in this part of Germany in Self coloured and Magpie varieties. The pigeons were used in the Flying sport. There were many local variations in how the birds were flown. In Magdeburg, Brunswick and Halberstadt it was usual that the fanciers let their pigeons free fly at about the same time. The separate kits then united to one big swarm, flying criss-cross over the town at a height of 500 to 800 meters, depending on the weather conditions. Such a flight could last for several hours. In Magdeburg it is said that around 1890 that a kit of over 2000 pigeons darkened the sun

2 for a while. What was remarkable was to see that the pigeons from the same loft stayed together in this swarm. When the free flight was done, kit after kit returned at their own loft. Obviously some birds got lost in such an enormous swarm and thus landed at the wrong loft. The searching for these lost pigeons was part of the enjoyment for the breeders, as in this way many contacts were made with colleague breeders. The Breeders in the Mid German cities of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Celle and Brunswick (Braunschweig) preferred certain colours and markings in their pigeons. This resulted in breeds like the Magdeburg Whitetails and White flight, white tails; the Brunswick Bearded Tumblers and the Celle White flights. The last one is long since gone and was probably never modernised. Strangely enough there is nothing known about the flying capacities of the Bearded Tumblers from Brunswick in the early years. Still this is a very old variety. Perhaps they were compared to other breeds so seldom kept that they were simply not mentioned? Left: English magpie tumbler. Drawing of Mr. A.J. Simpson. This drawing was published on October the 8 th, It was commissioned by the British Specialty Club, directed by a committee. In the early years of the 20st century, the modern English Magpie caused a stir at the Chrystal Palace Show of 1912, many of the offspring of these pigeons were sold to Germany for enormous amounts of money. The German fanciers conscientiously followed the second Simpson ideal Drawing, which was drawn in This resulted in the modern Magpied German Long faced Tumbler. When the Poultry and Pigeon Exhibition became even more popular in Germany, the Fanciers in Middle Germany were confronted with these pigeons and as with their English colleagues they came under the spell of the beauty of these long bodied birds. This started the modernising of the aforementioned local breeds, transferring the Simpson ideal type to those breeds as well. At first the local breeds were still looked on as individual breeds, but later the different breeds turned out to be that much similar that around the end of the 60 s they were officially joined into two breeds: - The German Long faced Magpie Tumbler, with a white beak and coloured back. - The Middle German Long Faced Tumbler, bearded, in: white flightwhite tail and in blue magpie with black beak and white back. Another 7 years later these two breeds were joined into one breed: The German Long faced Tumbler. Right: A white trio with very different qualities. The bird in the front is too short in neck and legs. The bird in the center is distinguished by the fine neck, but stance is too flat. The bird in the rear shows a pronounced swan neck.

3 Left: Quartet of White German Long faced tumblers. Very good type and stance. The head carriage of the three birds in the front is somewhat downfaced. and markings Type en stance The German Long face Tumbler is a rather long, slender, long legged, elegant pigeon. Coarseness is not wanted in this breed. Recent crossings with English Magpie resulted in rather coarse birds, especially in the magpie variety. After the uniting of East and West Germany it turned out that the German Long Face Tumblers from East Germany were smaller and more slender than the ones of West Germany. As we notice today, the refined type of bird from east Germany has won, meaning that we now don t strive for pigeons as long as possible, but mainly for slender, elegant birds that have again the looks of the Simpson-ideal from Of course in this type of pigeon all the proportions have to blend harmoniously. The stance is very elevated; the back, narrow and sloping. The long, elegant and slim neck is carried vertically. The legs are set parallel and under the body and just a very slight angle to the upper leg joint. The breast is narrow but round, carried high without protruding. The wings are well closed but closed around the breast, held close to the body, carried on the tail without crossing. The tail is proportionally short, well closed, in an unbroken line with the back, not so steep or long as to touch the floor. Right: Trio White German Long faced tumblers. The two in front should carry their neck more straight. The bird in the middle shows a good clean throat and head length. Head and Beak The head and beak are carried horizontally, meaning that the underline is almost horizontal when the bird is in action. Breed Characteristics Overall Impression The German Long faced Tumbler is a clean-cut pigeon, with high carriage and high on the leg and a long slim, tapering head. All the proportions have to blend harmoniously. Head and beak carried horizontally. After the overall impression, the following breed points of the German Long faced Tumbler are in order of importance: - Breed Type en Stance - Head and Beak shape - Eyes - Colour

4 Left: White German Long faced Tumbler with much to be desired: No flattening between the back of the head and the bottom line of the skull; throat should be more clean cut out, neck should be straight and a shorter tail. The head is narrow and slim. The back of the head is well rounded. The long fore-face is well filled, from above an elongated 'drop' form, without any flatness, angles, breaks or depressions. In profile we see a straight to gentle curving line from the beak tip to the rear of the head, the shortest and highest point behind the eye, from that point slightly rounded to flow into the almost vertical line of the neck. The size and length of the head should be in proportion and balance with the rest of the bird. There is a slight difference in head form between the Magpie marked and the other Colours/Markings. The Magpie markeds have a slightly arched head line, a somewhat thicker beak, but also a bit longer face, with these showing their relationship with the English Magpie. The other colour varieties have a flat forehead with longer, thinner beaks and a bit shorter face. This facts have to be kept in mind when judging these varieties. Right: White German Longfaced Tumbler with beautiful neck and leg length. A flat or angular head line, breaks or depressions are things that would be penalized. The beak is long and straight, both mandibles the same thickness. A thin, pointy beak or a 'Downfaced' (downward pointing) beak is not wanted. There should be no distinct 'join' to the head but a smooth continuous line. The beak colour is flesh colour with a distinct 'Blood-Rose' flush. A dark beak point is allowed only in the Black Selfs. The Blue coloured in Selfs, White Tail, White-Tail White-Flights, have Black Beaks. The beak colour of the Black and Blue Magpie should be flesh colour, except for the Blue Black Beaked Magpie, recognizable for the more refined type and the fine, flat forehead. The nose wattles need to be fine and small and flat, thus not interrupting the scull line.

5 Eyes Desired is a clear white Iris. A little red (small veining) in the iris is not a fault, however more than little red, visible from a short distance, is a severe fault. Left: White German Longfaced Tumbler with a great many positive points. Note the fine long face and skull line. The throat could be a bit better cut out. Right: Very good white German Long faced tumbler, but in this picture it carries the head downfaced and the throat could be deeper. Left: White German Long faced Tumbler with very good type and stance, although it should stretch the neck a bit more. Rule of thumb is that when the red in the iris is only noticed when the bird is in hands, the eye colour can still be awarded as Very Good. The eye-ceres, are narrow, fine and fiery red. (except for the Birds with Black Beaks, when it is Blue-Black.) At least, that is how they should be. Often the eye-ceres have to be more covered by the feathering, this is due to sparse feathering. Especially in birds with a flesh-coloured beak, whose eye ceres need to be fiery red, too thick eye ceres are very noticeable. But because this is often due to the scarce feathering, it should be judged with a certain amount of leniency, as long as it is not too bad. In the case of pale or too

6 thick eye ceres, one point has to be deducted. Desired is a clear white Iris. A little red in the iris is not a fault, however more than little red, already visible from a short distance, is a severe fault. Rule of thumb is that when the red in the iris is only noticed when the bird is in hands, the eye colour can still be awarded as Very Good. Right: White German Longfaced Tumbler with beautiful type and stance. Very good skull line, but the face is wanted a bit longer. Very good straight neck. Throat must be cleaner. Tail is a bit long. Left: Couple of white German Long faced Tumblers, with beautiful type, stance, neck and legs. Very good skull lines. At the bird in the front, the throat should be cleaner cut out. Right: White German Longfaced Tumbler with very good type and stance. The skull line is very good, but the face is wanted a bit longer. The neck should be slightly longer and narrower at the point of junction with the head. Throat somewhat cleaner. Tail a bit shorter. The eye-ceres, are narrow, fine and fiery red. (except for the Birds with Black Beaks, when it is Blue-Black.) At least, that is how they should be. Often the eye-ceres have to be better surrounded by the feathering. Lacking this is due to the wanted scarce feathering. Especially in birds with a flesh-coloured beak, whose eye ceres need to be fiery red, too thick eye ceres are very noticeable.

7 But because this is often due to the scarce feathering, it should be judged with generosity, as long as it is not too bad. In the case of pale or too thick eye ceres this should be a definite fault. Left: Heads of two white German Long faced Tum- Also for this bird, the throat must blers. The skull line of the cock not to be more arched. cleaner. Right: White German Long faced Tumbler with beautiful type, stance and head carrying. The skull line is rather arched and showing some back skull. Also more face length is desired. Beautiful neck and leg length. Throat is wanted somewhat cleaner (deeper). The tail is very long and should be less broad. Colour and markings All colours are desired deep, clear and even, with Bars and Chequering distinct. Except for the Bearded variety, high demands can be made, especially in the black, red and yellow colours. In the Bearded there is not yet enough uniformity in colour varieties to maintain the strict demands in this subject. In more or less equivalent birds, the best colour will prevail. Keeping in mind the Dutch saying: Constructing comes first, then comes painting, we will for the time being have the breed type of the bird prevail. The following colour/markings are recognised: - Self: White, Black, Red, Yellow. - Barred: Blue with Black Bar, Brown Barred and Blue Dilute. - Chequer: Blue en Blue Dilute. - Grizzle: Blue. - Magpie: Black, Red, Brown, Yellow, Blue Black Bar, Blue Dilute Blue, Cream and Blue Black-Beaked. - Beard-Marked: Black, Red, Yellow, Blue with Black Bar, Mealy, Blue Dilute Blue, Cream, Isabella, Blue Chequer, Dilute Blue Chequer, Blue grizzle and Lavender. - White Tail-Marked: Black, Red, Yellow, Blue Black Bar, Blue Dilute dark bar, Blue Chequer, Blue Dilute Chequer and Blue grizzle. - White Tail-White Flights: Black, Red, Yellow Blue Black Bar, Blue Dilute dark bar, Blue Chequer, Blue Dilute Chequer and Blue grizzle. - Stork marked. Right: White German Long faced Tumbler with very good type and stance. Good flat head line, but the fa ce is wanted slightly longer and the head line should fall away more gradually without showing back skull. Neck more straight and throat cleaner without throatiness. The tail not to be longer.

8 Photos left and below: The lofts of the successful breeder/specialist of the German Long faced Tumblers, Uwe Held (Germany), who provided the photos for this article. With our thanks. Magpie: A simple magpie marking, with Head, Neck, Breast, Shoulders, Back and Tail, coloured. The other parts of the plumage are white. The Blue Black- Beaked Magpie with a White Back. The Bearded has a white throat (the beard) and 7 to 10 white primaries. The beard marking is stretching from each beak corner, without touching the eye-cere. A too small beard marking is only a very minor fault, because the size of the beard cannot be fixed genetically fixed. Birds with a missing beard marking would resemble a White-Flight and this variety is no longer recognised... Also a white Rump (Upper Tail Coverts/Lower Back) is no longer wanted and a fault. Mealy: with a pale ground colour and reddish neck and bars. Cream: with an overall paler ground colour and yellow neck and bars. Isabella: is a delicate Creamy-White, without Bars. Lavender: is a delicate Silver-Grey without Bars. White Tail marked: The 12 tail feathers with the upper and lower tail-coverts are White. White Tail + White Flights: The above marks, with the addition of 7 to 10 White Primary feathers. Stork marked: Ground Colour is White with some colour to the head and upper neck. A minimum of 7 primary feathers with a Blue-Grey or coloured Edging (Stork-Mark). The tail either with a Coloured Tail Bar or Pure White. The breed today The German Long faced Tumblers have reached a high grade of perfection. In Germany, but also in the Netherlands, also in the Bearded variety fine stock birds are at hand in black, red and blue. The Self White are only kept by one Dutch breeder, but in top quality! Copyright 2009 Aviculture-Europe. All rights reserved by VBC.