In Portugal there is a performance breed called:Portuguese Tumbler or
in Portuguese:CambalhotaPortuguês.
When flying, the pigeon make a single
or double roll in a horizont flight direction.
Then he fly again and repeat the roll and so on. This breed perform better in a
small kit from 7 to 15 birds.
There's lots of people in Portugal breeding
these pigeons, but nobody is flying them
properly like other performing breeds;Ex:Birmingham
Roller.
It's a very small pigeon breed. The smallest
in the world. Some of them are smaller than the spanish
Figurita.
It's a breed that have been spread for some
countries since Germany to the U.S.A.
Breeders of that countries have been breeding the P.Tumbler for showing and
not performance, so the breed there, have lost the hability for good flight
performance.
Me and some friends, along with the partnership of the
Associação Portuguesa de Columbicultura,
will make official the real Portuguese Tumbler standard, not only here in
Portugal but also internationaly.
This is a video of some of my Portuguese Tumblers.
They all came from the pigeon loft of my friend José Figueiredo.
The Portuguese Tumbler
A bit of history
(by Julio S. Branco)
One of the first mentions of the
Portuguese Tumbler as a Breed dates back to
the year 1905, when it could be found being
offered for sale at the market of “SÃO
BENTO” in LISBOA.
It was back then bred mainly for sportive
performances, breeders showing off their
birds in contests for gambling or betting
purposes.
In the following two decades a growing
interest in pigeon shows culminated with the
Breed’s first standard being made official
in June of 1926 by the Portuguese Society of
Agriculture.
In 1927 Afra and Pinto published that
first standard.
Portuguese author and passionate pigeon
fancier Antonio PITTA, reported in 1954 in a
short essay about the Portuguese Tumbler,
that in the early days, the more common
colors were the blues and the splashed, and
that the recessive reds and yellows were
more appreciated. He indicated that in the
Portuguese city of SAO JOÃO DA MADEIRA there
was a great interest for pure whites which
had dark eyes. Surprisingly he also
mentioned the existence in those early days
of muffed or grouse footed Portuguese
Tumblers that had great tumbling abilities
but were “outlawed” by the standard of 1926.
Between 1926 and 1954 a need for the
renewal of the “Mariola” which is the oldest
existing pigeon breed of PORTUGAL, and the
subsequent creation of its miniature the “Mariolinha”,
led to a revision of the standards of the
four Portuguese breeds.
That work was commissioned by the
“Associacão dos Avicultores de PORTUGAL” to
its “Seccao Tecnica” which in turn put in
charge of that endeavor the renowned Antonio
PITTA.
Mr. PITTA submitted the results of his
work which was approved by the “Comissao
tecnica de columbideos” on the 20 of April
1953.
Homologation by the “Associacao dos
Avicultores de PORTUGAL” was done on the 8
of May 1953 and was followed by the
publication of the booklet: “PADRÕES e
APOLOGIA dos POMBOS PORTUGUESES by Antonio
PITTA” edited in 1954.
“PADRÕES” is Portuguese for Standards and
“APOLOGIA” stands for Eulogy or Defense.
In “APOLOGIA” Mr. PITTA stated that both
the “Mariola” and the “Cambalhota Portugues”
(Portuguese Tumbler) were two ancient
Portuguese Breeds the former being the
oldest of them all.
Interestingly, almost sixty years later,
Mr. PITTA’s work still stands as a major
landmark in the history of the four native
Portuguese breeds.
Many attempts have been made towards
“modern” versions of the standards of 1954.
None has so far succeeded at reaching
official recognition.
