page_title: Fancy pigeon
section_title: Utility pigeons
hierarchical_section_title: Fancy pigeon / Major breed families / Utility pigeons
caption_attribution_description: Champion Carneau pigeon at the 2008 Queensland State Show. The bird is a recessive red old cock owned by Doug Nothdurft.
context_page_description: Fancy pigeon refers to any breed of domestic pigeon, which is a domesticated form of the wild rock dove. They are bred by pigeon fanciers for various traits relating to size, shape, color, and behavior, and often exhibited at pigeon shows, fairs and other livestock exhibits.
  There are about 800 pigeon breeds; considering all regional varieties all over the world there may be 1100 breeds. The European list of fancy pigeons alone names about 500 breeds. No other domestic animal has branched out into such a variety of forms and colours.
  Charles Darwin is known to have crossbred fancy pigeons, particularly the Ice Pigeon, to study variation within species, this work coming three years before his groundbreaking publication, On the Origin of Species.
context_section_description: This group includes breeds originally developed as sources of meat.
  Carneau
  French Mondain
  King
  Runt
  Strasser
caption: A red Carneau
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