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suggested, DO NOT handle them anymore than is necessary.
Always move
slowly when about to catch a bird. A fast move disturbs
the entire group and it becomes more difficult to handle
any of them. Likewise wearing bright clothing will have
a similar effect.
This standard is offered with the viewpoint as a guide
to judge all Ringneck Doves (Streptopelia Risoria) and
is not to be construed as a universal for all doves.
General Conditions: Since the dove by its very
nature is a fast flyer, it should have, when at rest on
a perch or the floor, a racy, stream-line and alert look
to its carriage and body. Feathering should be smooth
and tight over the entire body. Feet and legs should be
free of feathering, clean, and the skin shiny and
bright. A healthy bird never sits hunched up, eyes
closed and feathers rumpled. The body should be firm and
solid.
Posture: The stance should be roughly at a 45
degree angle when the bird is standing quietly. The tail
may touch the floor of the judging coop and not
crouching. In this position the dove should be standing
approximately 6 inches high and about 10 to 11 inches
long, from beak tip to the end of the tail.
Head: It should be a little long rather than
short, not flat-headed, but with a smooth round curve.
There should be a gradual break at the beak and graceful
curve to the top of the head, then a graceful curve down
the back neckline with no protruding feathers. The
gullet should have a smooth and continuous curve.
Eyes:
These may vary in color according to the color marking
of the bird. Such as: the fawn dove will have orange
eyes, the white, orange sometimes with a reddish tint.
The pied dove will have black eyes, often called "bull"
eyes. The wild dove will have orange eyes sometimes
darker than the fawn. Albinos (true) will have pink
eyes. All doves will have a very fine slate-colored eye
cere. The location of the eye should be very near the
center of the head.
Beak:
It should be long, short being undesirable, and even
with the eye. Fawn doves will have a very dark beak,
wild almost black, peach lighter, white will have a
flesh-colored beak, white pied have a light colored
beak, with a dark stain on the tip. There should be very
little wattle protrusion on the beak of any dove.
Neck: A shorter neck is more desirable than a
long, rangy one, tapering from the body to the head in a
shallow, smooth curve. No frill feathers or many
feathers on the nape of the neck. On the Ringneck dove,
the ring should start right below the eye and continue
around the back of the neck to just below the other eye.
On all colored doves this ring should be bordered by a
fine white line of feathers. Some white doves will also
show a semblance of this ring in white feathers which
may be somewhat at variation with the smooth pattern of
the rest of the neck feathering.
Body: The body should be up to ten or eleven
inches in length overall, from beak tip to the end of
the tail, giving a long look rather than short. The
widest part of the body should be across the wing butts,
gracefully tapering to one feather width in the tail.
There should be no bulging in the chest area, no frill
feathers, no wing butts protruding to break the smooth
general curving of any part of the body conformation. In
general, the body should be well proportioned and nicely
streamlined to present a pleasing appearance to the eye.
The bird should be fully feathered and free from vermin,
dirt and feather lice. Feathers should be tight and
close to the body. Care must be used in handling the
bird to avoid feather loss and damage. Color of feathers
to be in accordance with the accepted standard.
Wings: Wings should be closely folded against
the body with the coverts well overlapping the back and
with no sideboards sticking up to mar the smooth
covering of the back. The wing, when outstretched should
not be pointed but should be slightly rounded at the
extreme end. When it is folded against the body, the
wing tips should be approximately two to three inches
from the end of the tail and drag below it. Flight
feathers should be at least ten on each wing, after a
full moult.
Legs: Legs should be short and sturdy, bright
red in color and free of any feathers or signs of leg
mites. When the bird stands at ease, the feet should be
slightly extended forward as if it is ready to take off.
From the side view, the legs should be parallel.
Rump: This should be almost straight with no
hump to mar the smooth line of the body contour from the
nape of the neck to the end of the tail.
Tail: It should have twelve strong feathers,
extending beyond the wing tips by two to three inches.
Split tails are not desirable.
Silky: The body of the silky dove is like any
dove of the Ringneck variety, the only difference being
the feathering and that sideboards are acceptable. The
inner web of the feather is connected to the feather
shaft, but the outer web is not, causing the silky
effect.
In order
to clarify designations for the various colors, the
American Dove Association recommends the following
classifications for all Ringneck doves as guidelines to
use for judging doves: Wild, fawn, white, peach, rosy,
ivory, albino, bull-eye white, tangerine, orange,
tangerine pearled, orange pearled, cream, frosty, cream
pied, wild pied, fawn pied, peach pied, rosy pied, ivory
pied, frosty ash pearled, orange chimmoy, orange pied,
orange white-back, pink, and pink pearled. All of these
colors may also appear in the silky variety. In other
words, there may be four variations to the one color,
i.e. wild (solid color), wild pied (with white), wild
silky (solid color with the silky feathering), and wild
pied silky (solid coloring with white and the silky
feathering).
It will be readily understood additional mutants and
combinations thereof, will appear in the future. These
will be recognized and color classifications added as
needed according to popularity of them. In the interest
of competition and awards, any show committee may find
it necessary to combine them with similar classes. |
