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The Original All Roller Talk Discussion Board Archive >
the dominance of ash red
the dominance of ash red
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bernie m.
1 post
Jan 01, 2006
5:08 PM
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Greetings one and all!
I am perplexed about ash red birds amongst feral pigeons. We know that ash red is dominant over blues, blacks, and chocolates. If that is the case, why are there so few ash red feral pigeons? The vast majority of feral pigeons are either black t-pattern or blue checkers.
This entered my mind today when a feral red checker joined and flew with my stock of birds. Are the predators (hawks) better able to see these red birds as opposed to those of black ground color??
Just scratching my head here.........Bernie
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
309 posts
Jan 01, 2006
6:51 PM
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Bernie, in the order of dominance, ash red is dominant to blue and brown. BUT ash red is not a proprietary genetic color that will dominate a flock over a period of time, especially in a flock that is largely wild type blue. Pigeons dominant color genes always want to revert to wild type blue, which is the case with ash red even though it is dominant to wild type blue.
Let say for example, one of your ash red rollers got lost and joined a flock of all blue bars and checks. If that bird was a hen which mated to one of the wild type blue bar cocks, her sons would be ash red split for blue. Her daughters would all be blue.
If that bird was a cock pure for ash red and mated to a wild type blue hen, all offspring would be ash red, but the cocks would carry blue and when they mated to another blue hen in the flock, the percentage of ash reds he would produce would, by the medelian principle of inheritance, would greatly dimenish.
Basically what this is saying is that ash red will, over time, revert to wild type blue through the offspring produced.
In the flock of commies across the street from me, there has been a really beautiful ash red check cock in that flock for years. I've been here for four years and he has been in that flock since I moved here. In that time I have seen only one or two young ash reds in the group, which oddly enough seem to disappear over time. There is a recessive red in that flock as well and she has always been the only one. The rest are all blue bars and checks with an occasional black.
Brian.
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Bluesman
Pigeon Fancier
617 posts
Jan 02, 2006
2:49 AM
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Brian.Would you think the occasional Black is coming from the Rec.Red Hen? David
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
310 posts
Jan 02, 2006
10:23 AM
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David, in this case, her mate appears to be a black self. But there are a few other blacks in the flock of about 30 birds. I get the commie babies from that flock over here all the time and often many of them are loaded with kite bronze which tells me they are probably off that pair. But overall it just goes to illustrate how dominant wild type blue really is when not in a controlled breeding environment.
Brian.
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Bill C
22 posts
Jan 02, 2006
9:36 PM
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Bernie, I have noticed that in a flock of wild pigoens down the street the colored birds vary from time to time. Sometimes I see three white birds and sometimes a grizzle or re-red bird. The problem I would say is that these birds got lost from the owners and they are targeted by the cooper hawks first. Before long I see only blue bars and checks again.
Even in my first year flying kit birds, the hawks went after white and red birds more than checks. I used to see a red roller rolling with the wild pigoens at a cross street by a paint store I go to alot. I still look for it when I drive by but haven't seen it for over a year now. I bet a hawk got it. The domesticated birds are much easier to catch especially when they are with a flock of wild pigoens and are getting less to eat because they are just following the crowd to find food and water. three blocks away from me is a gas station and I saw a badge bird and I wondered if it was one of mine that has not made it back. Even away from home I am looking at the pigeons LOL, Bill
Last Edited by Bill C on Jan 02, 2006 9:38 PM
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