Nos amis Liégeois – Our friends from Liège

Liège Pigeon

Breeds

By: Lars Van Droogenbroeck,

Pigeon-Judge (Belgium).

This article was written with enjoyment and

I hope to get you, the reader, acquainted

with three of our seventeen Belgian pigeon

breeds. What connects these three together?

Simply, their origin, being the city of Liège, the capital of the province of Liège in

Wallonia, the French-speaking region of

Belgium. This city, situated in the valley of

the Meuse River, was in the mid-twentieth

century the centre of the mining industry,

which brought prosperity to Wallonia. In the city of Liège, at the end of the eighteenth

century, early nineteenth century three

breeds of pigeons have been created, being

the Beauty Homer de Liège, the Barbet of

Liège and the Liège Owl and to those three breeds I dedicate this article. I have chosen

to discuss each breed in a similar way. First,

a brief sketch of their origin / history, then a

summary of their overall impression, main

characteristics, recognized colours, common faults, etc.

Left: The Author, judging pigeons at an outdoor

show in a pavilion.

Let us begin with the Beauty Homer de Liège. Origin: The Beauty Homer de Liège exists since the

eighteenth century in the Liège region and descended

from crosses between the extinct Camus (also called “flat

nose pigeon”) and owl pigeons, high flyers and tumblers.

The Beauty Homer de Liège was once used as a racing pigeon and contributed to the development of our world-

famous Belgian racing pigeon.

Right: Beauty Homer de Liège blue barless. A very good

pigeon in type for this rare colour. Note to the nice head shape and fixed stance.

Physical Characteristics: The Beauty Homer de Liège

is part of the group “form” pigeons and can be

described as a medium-sized homing pigeon of about 450 to 500 grams with a short and compact type. The

stance is somewhat upright, only slightly sloping

forward. The head is very important and should be

broad, full and short, well rounded, with no flat spots,

an uninterrupted curved line from the tip of the beak to the back of the neck. The eyes should be orange-

red and the eye ceres narrow, fine, with a colour in

conformity with the feather colour. The beak is rather

short and broad, forming a curved, smooth line with

the forehead. White coloured for the Whites, black to

horn coloured for the other feather colours. Left: Young Beauty Homer de Liège, blue black

barred. In this photo you can see the correct underbody and

well-rounded breast.

Left: Young Beauty Homer de Liège, blue black barred.

Already at this young age this pigeon shows a nice

breed type and an harmonious rounded head.

The neck is short and strong, well defined throat

curve. The chest is broad, well-muscled and well

rounded. The back is short, well covered and with

broad shoulders. The wings must be strong and well

developed, closed well to the body. The tail is not too

long, narrow, tightly closed, and in line with the back, resting on the tail without touching the ground. Legs

are short and smooth with straight, strong and not too

long toes. The nail colour in conformity with the

feather colour. Feathers tight and smooth.

Colours: The Beauty Homer de Liège is recognised in: blue, black, red (dominant), ash red

barred (creamy) and their diluted colours; barred, barless, chequer and dark checker (T

pattern); all grizzles; white and dark or light tigered in black and blue. The lower back is

always uni coloured. The best quality is seen in

the Blues and Silvers, but other colour varieties are also definitely on the rise. In

recent years, there are a few breeders who

specialized in mealy and creamy as well as in

the barless varieties.

Right:

Young Beauty Homer de Liège, ash red

barless. So far looking at the youngster it is looking

well, a promising pigeon, especially for such a rare colour variety!

Faults: Things we don’t want in the Beauty Homer de Liège are too light or too heavy

birds. A Beauty Homer de Liège certainly

should not be long bodied, or have a narrow

breast or a too long head. The beak should not

be too long or have a large coarse wattles.

Also coarse eye ceres are not wanted,

although old cocks often do have them.

Broken eyes or two different eye colours are a fault, also red tinted eye ceres, any

traces of a frill, split feathering in the

breast, two coloured on the rump, white

nail(s) except for the Whites.

Left:

A pair of Beauty Homers de Liège in their

breeding compartment. A blue blackbar male and a silver dark barred female Both

birds have good body type and filled heads. Note the two perfect wing bars of

the male bird in the front.

Characteristics: The Beauty Homer de

Liège is a very alert and vital pigeon. They

will easily rear several rounds per year. You

should pay attention though that their beaks are not getting to short or narrow,

which will give problems with feeding the young at a certain age. When they are allowed to

free fly, they will eagerly enjoy the opportunity.

Status: Mainly bred in Wallonia, but also in Flanders more and more Beauty Homer de Liège are seen in excellent quality!

We will continue with its ‘brother’, the

Barbet of Liège.

Right: Barbet of Liège, blue black barred. The bird in the picture shows the required

breed type with a well developed frill. Here

we should watch out for too much backskull at the back of the head.

Origin: The Barbet of Liège has is beginnings

in the 19th century in the Liège region and

descended from crosses between the extinct

Camus and an Owl Pigeon. It is not clearly

stated which Owl breed this was. There is a chance this was the Old German Owl, but

also the French Owl, Italian Owl and even

the Liège Owl stand a chance.... In those

years, the Barbet of Liège was used by the Liège pigeon keepers as a homing pigeon,

but the flying type was not maintained. The

Barbet of Liège is closely related to and

comparable to the Beauty Homer de Liège;

the only difference is the frill. Left: A blue blackbar Barbet of Liège in the

nest bowl.

Physical Characteristics: The Barbet of Liège

belongs to the Owl Pigeon breeds, but

different from the other Belgian Owl Pigeon

breeds, it is not a ‘shield’ owl variety. It is a

medium size Owl Pigeon, short and compact

with slightly sloping carriage and with a well developed frill. The head is well rounded and

broad. The head profile is an unbroken curve

from the top of the head to the beak tip

without any break. The highest point is right

above the eye. The eye colour is orange-red, the eye ceres should be very fine, sometimes

with only few irregularities, the cere colour is

in conformity with the feather colour. The

beak is short and strong, forming a curved,

smooth line with the forehead.

Right: An ash red barred Barbet of Liège, with

a very good head, frill, colour and marking. Although the bird could stand better in this

picture.

White coloured for the Whites, black to horn coloured for the other feather colours. The

nose wattles are broad but not protruding.

The neck is rather short, widening to the

base, with a clear, distinct, slightly curved

throat. (Certainly not a dewlap) and not forgetting, a well formed Jabot (chest frill).

The breast is very broad and well rounded,

and protruding. The back is short and well

covered by the strong wings that are well

closed with wide flights full feathered back wing. The tail is well closed, carried in line

with the back and held clear of the floor. The

legs are fairly short, smooth, carmine red,

with strong, straight, not too long toes. The

nail colour is in conformity with the feather

colour. The Barbet of Liège has opulent feathering, but tight and smooth.

Above: Two ash red barred young Barbet of Lièges in the nest bowl.

Right:

An ash red dark barred Barbet of Liège. Already as a young bird, this pigeon showed

a very good stance, fine rounded head with a broad frontal. The throat could be curved a

little better.

Colours: The Barbet of Liège is recognised in:

blue, black, red (dominant), ash red barred

(creamy) and their diluted colours; barred,

barless, chequer and dark checker (T

pattern); all grizzles; white and dark or light tigered in black and blue. The lower back is

always single coloured.

Faults: What can go wrong in the Barbet of

Liège? Well, the following things we consider

as being a fault: too long, narrow body, wide tail,

too flat or too narrow skull, narrow frontal, too

long in beak, broken eyes or two different coloured eyes, red eye ceres and feather parting

below the throat. Also the Barbet of Liège should

not have a dewlap or a two-coloured lower rump

or white nails (except in the White).

Left: Barbet of Liège, silver dark barred. Perfect

skull line and width in the forehead. Very good

Jabot (frill), and a well rounded breast, in

particular as this is a hen. Watch out for getting

a break in the feathering under the throat.

Right: Head study of a Barbet of Liège well-formed

jabot. When standing correctly in the cage, the point of the beak is hidden in the frill feathers.

Characteristics: The Barbet of Liège is a good parent bird, as long as we keep an eye on the

beak of the parents not becoming too short

and broad. When the beaks are too short, the

parent birds will stop feeding their young when

these are two weeks old. That is why some fanciers prefer to have the young reared by

foster parents. (For instance, the Belgium

homer pigeon), although I would go for a

selection on the parent birds that can rear their

own young without problems. But due to

crossing of the Beauty Homer de Liège there are presently Barbets with a small jabot and also a broader and shorter body, which causes a bad wing covering of the back. If the Barbet

of Liège is allowed to free fly they will be happy to fly around the loft all day.

Status: Only recently the Barbet of

Liège was listed as a rare pigeon, but lately we have noticed a positive

evolution with several enthusiastic

breeders in Wallonia, and now also in

Flanders. This has already resulted in

a class of 40 birds at the show, in a great number of colour varieties.

Another positive step for the breed

was the founding of a specialty club

for the Barbet of Liège in 2011. This

Club is also partly responsible for the preservation and dissemination of the

breed in Europe.

Left: A Barbet of Liège, dominant red hen in the nest bowl.

The last of the three breeds is the

Liège Owl.

Origin: Our Belgian Owl pigeons are

thought to be of Eastern origin and

known since the 15th century. During

the 19th century at the start of the

pigeon sport, the French Owl was crossed with the – now extinct - Camus

pigeon, and this resulted in a coveted

flying pigeon, the Liège Owl.

The Liège Owl is closely related to the

Antwerp Smerle, the latter however has

undergone a real metamorphosis, while the Liège Owl kept the flying type.

Right: A Liège Owl, black shield. A very

good breed representative for this very rare colour variety in the Liège Owl.

Note the good width of the forehead.

Physical Characteristics: The Liège Owl is a white Shield Owl, meaning, a white bird with a

coloured wing shield. It is a rather small pigeon weighing only 400 grams. The Jabot (frill)

has to be long and full. The Liège Owl is relatively short in type, but still looks a bit longer than the Barbet of Liège, because it is less sturdy build. The body posture is almost

horizontal. The head is longish, rounded with a medium size pinkish beak of about 18 mm.

The throat is well curved. The head profile is an unbroken curve from the top of the head to

the beak tip without any break. The eyes are dark with fine, smooth, pale eye ceres. The

neck is of medium length, strong at the base. The breast is broad and protruding. The beak is short, well covered and only slightly sloping. The wings are of normal width, tight and well

covering the back. The wing tips are carried on the tail and must not cross. The tail is short to

medium length, well closed and carried horizontal.

The legs are rather short, clean and red coloured with flesh colour nails. The feathering is

tight and smooth. Below: A pair of Liège Owl (red shield and yellow shield) in the breeding compartment near

the nest bowl.

Left: A red shield Liège Owl.

Below: A yellow shield Liège Owl.

This hen was awarded the max 97 points at the Club Show for Belgian Pigeon Breeds in

Oud-Heverlee. The bird is especially judged ‘excellent’ because of the intensity of its

coloured wing shields. It could stand a little better in this photo.

In recent years, the breeders are

working mainly on the

improvement of the type, which

means that often many pigeons kept in the loft are without the

correct marking, which is then, in

turn, shown up in the offspring.

Through crossing-in the French

Owl, most of the present Liège Owl have a good head form and

by the Aachen Lacquershield the

colour has become more intense

in recent years, but apart from

these desired characteristics, the two breeds also have passed on a

dewlap, which in turn is not

wanted and should be strictly

selected out!

Left: Liège owl, red shield. Very good breed

representative with an outstanding type and perfect

head profile.

Colours: About colour and

marking I would like to explain

that only the wing-shield is

coloured, although some colour behind the legs is

tolerated. At least 7 primaries

have to be white ( equal

number in both wings). The

thumb feathers don’t have to be coloured, althoug it is a

plus if they are. Starting from

the coming Show season

2014-2015, having a coloured

feather within the 7 outer

primaries is no longer tolerated. This holds for all

Belgian Shield Owls. Recognised colours are: In barless: black, dun, brown, red, yellow, blue

and silver. In barred and chequer: blue, silver, ash red, ash yellow and brown. Recognised

colour varieties in barred and laced are: black, red, yellow, blue and brown.

Above: The three pigeon breeds of Liège together at the feeder.

Faults: Concerning the colours; having less than 7 white primaries is a serious fault, also

having a coloured primary between the whites. Further the known colour and marking faults. The Liège Owl should not be too heavy in weight, too long or narrow and not have a sloping

carriage. Faults concerning the head: not correct head profile, too coarse, too narrow or

pointed head, forehead too round or a break in the curve of the head profile; flat skull; a too

short, too long or weak beak, or not correct beak setting, also a thin under beak or colour

spots appearing in the beak are a fault. Furthermore having a dewlap, no jabot, wrong eye

colour, too red eye ceres and feathered legs are a fault.

Characteristics: De Liège Owl is a very good parent bird and may rear a pair of young every

five weeks. The feeding of the young goes without problems, also because of their medium

long beak and less broad head. Apart from that, the Liège Owl is very easy to handle, far

from aggressive. When offered free flight, they also like touring a few daily

laps over the loft. Concerning showing

the bird, the Liège Owl will take little

more conditioning than the other two

Liège pigeon breeds. Perfectly marked birds are very rare (read: they don’t

excist), so it is important to condition

your show birds, meaning, clipping off

the false coloured feathers – assuming

these are only a few.

Status: Lately, the Liège Owl is truly

becoming a show breed and can be

admired at almost every pigeon show

here in Belgium; thanks to several

enthousiastic breeders in both Flanders and Wallonia. However, outside Belgium the Liège

Owl is hardly known. I think this is because each country has its own Shield Owl breed (Old

Dutch Owl, Old German Owl, French Owl, etc.)

Above: The author, Lars Van Droogenbroeck, standing in front of his lofts and aviary with,

of course, all 3 Liège pigeon breeds.

“I have been a pigeon fancier for several years now and I am a great fan of the three Liège

pigeon breeds. These are three very pretty pigeon breeds, which are easy to breed and do not require special care. They are suitable to free fly and are real show birds that are full of

pride and nobility; they will show their best in the show pen and may even win a prize for

their keeper. I hope that I could get you interested in our breeds with this article, and if there

are some in the future that ask you for a Belgian pigeon breed, then do not forget to

recommend our friends of Liège. Unknown is unloved, but at least now you know some more about these pretty breeds.”

Lars Van Droogenbroeck

Pigeon Judge (Belgium) lars.vandroogenbroeck@skynet.be

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