The COM Lizard classification, part 1: brave new world
O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t. From The Tempest by William Shakespeare.... Read More
General
Variegation, part 4: the fugitive black gene
The general tendency of the whole Canary tribe is to struggle out of darkness into light. W.A. Blakston (1) In this short series we have looked at variegation through its manifestations in other species: greenfinches, budgerigars and chickens. When it comes to visual impact however, no canary accomplished the ‘struggle out of darkness into light’ […]... Read More
Variegation, part 3: spangles
This series is all about the contrast of light and dark we can see in the plumage of birds. The spangle of the Lizard canary is a special form of variegation, unique amongst canaries, yet as we saw in Part 2 , common enough in the bird world. ... Read More
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Today.... Read More
Variegation, part 2: patterns of light and dark
Yikes! A budgie! What’s that doing on Fine Spangled Sort? Let me introduce you to Stanley, my daughter’s budgerigar. He is here for a good reason: to demonstrate the markings in his plumage.... Read More
World Show 2017, part 4: the London Fancy
A class of London Fancies was presented at the 2017 World Show in a section officially known as Nouvelles Race en étude (pas de medailles), in other words for appraisal rather competition. This is part of COM’s process of evaluating a new breed before it can be recognised officially. I’m not going to go into the […]... Read More
World Show 2017, part 3: gallery two
First, enjoy the video of Giorgio Massarutto’s broken cap silver hen contributed by Joe Coakley, then have a look at the second (of two) gallery of the birds at the World Show. As always, click on a photo for a larger image and the name of the breeder. ... Read More