Rhine Ringbeater

Rhine Ring Beater (Rheinische Ringslager)

Origin

The Netherlands (Holland) as early as 1599 described by the Writer Aldrovandi.

In the Form as seen today with the 'Monk' Marking, from 1850 in the upper Rhine River Region.

Overall Impression

The size of a robust rounded Field Pigeon, with a very lively temperament, that should exhibit the special breed characteristic when in flight of clapping the wings together and flying in descending circles. This is an old inherited feature that must be preserved by correct selective breeding. Males that do not exhibit this feature should not be used for breeding. Form, color and markings should not the prime aim in breeding.

Breed Type

Head: fairly long with a broad, high and curved forehead, the peak crest a full broad set peak with a well closed mane at the back of the neck, the peak tip should be in a line over the top (level) of the head.

Eyes: dark, with a pale flesh color eye cere.

Beak: medium length, fine pale with the beak cere small, neat and not overdeveloped.

Neck: medium length, because of the rich profuse) feathering, appearing strong and powerful.

Breast: broad and full, protruding slightly forwards proudly

Back: broad across the shoulders and slightly curved (not flat)

Wings: carried on the tail, almost reaching the tail tip, not crossing. The primary (flight) feathers broad and elastic and from the breed typical wing beating may be slightly frayed. This is taken as a sign of typical flying action and not a fault in the shows)

Tail: reasonably broad (the feathers should have broad webbing) but well closed.

Legs: medium length, clean-legged, a lively red color.

Feather: smooth, with tight elastic feathering with broad feather webbing.

Color: Black, Blue with Black Bar, Checker, Red, Yellow, Mealy Bar, Mealy Check, Cream Bar, Cream Check, Blue Grizzle

Color and Markings: The head and at least 6 primary flights are white, the rest of the feathering is colored, including the inside of the peak crest. The head marking should ideally follow in an even line, lightly curved, from approximately 5cm under the beak, under the eye, to the peak of the crest. All colors should be intense (rich and solid) the checkers with ideally evenly marked checkering on the wing shield. The Grizzle have a varying amount of White flecking on every feather, with dark color wing bars (with Grizzle you will not get true Black Bars) Black and Blue should have the back and tail the same even color. Red and Yellow should have even colored breast/belly but with paler tail color. Mealy and Cream with pale back and tail but with intensive neck, breast and bar color. The color of the belly and the thighs should match the wing shield color. With the pale tail colors, failing pigment in the upper and lower tail coverts should not result in the birds being penalized.

Main Faults: the body too weak or too coarse (heavy, thick); a shell crest; beak with a dark tip; uneven color; poor markings; 'hairy' feather structure.

Order of importance: overall impression - body shape - head and peak crest - structure of the feather - markings - feather color - beak color.

Ring Size : (7mm)

I have a lot more colors than these show here






This breed is a true German "Clapper-Turner." That describes their performance. In Germany they have competitions with them. They place them in a flight cage and judge the performance by a performing standard. The cock has a heavy wing clapping and circles the hen around and around in the air while courting. He will turn in circles around and around her as he claps very loudly. Believe it or not, one part of the standard they are judged by in the show room is by the worn flights, the more they are worn the better, it shows they are heavy clappers. Now, whether or not American judges know this, I don't know. Notice the worn primary flights of this old cock in the bottom images. The flights are worn from his wing clapping performance even in this small loft. Unworn flights are a sure sign of inferior performance. In the European Ringbeater competition in Germany, they have three two meter square cages set up in a dark room. One light bulb hangs in the center of each cage ceiling to illuminate the arena. Two birds (one cock and one hen) are placed in the arena and a timer starts. The cock has 3 minutes to score as many points as he can. One revolution is one point, then bonus points are to each half revolution additional to the first. Points escalate with the increasing rarity of very long flights. Four revolutions is exceptional, with three being excellent. The cock and the hen must not mate. The hen plays hard to get and the cock flies into the air clapping his wings revolving around the hen. This video shows a Rhine Ringbeater in the competition cage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJDUO_uTzvk There are other breeds of Ringbeaters as well, or as they call them in Germany, "Ringslagers." There's the Belgian Ringslager and the Anatolian Ringslager. I've never had any of these but they seem interesting. There's also other Rhine Ringslager colors but I don't have anything but Blue Bar yet because this is an extremely rare breed in the US but I'm working on it. Anatolian Ringbeater: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPNE1Xfn9s and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiVnOTkRkk Speelderken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cueV7zM1bLk
Rhine Ring Beater (Rheinische Ringslager) Origin The Netherlands (Holland) as early as 1599 described by the Writer Aldrovandi. In the Form as seen today with the 'Monk' Marking, from 1850 in the upper Rhine River Region. Overall Impression The size of a robust rounded Field Pigeon, with a very lively temperament, that should exhibit the special breed characteristic when in flight of clapping the wings together and flying in descending circles. This is an old inherited feature that must be preserved by correct selective breeding. Males that do not exhibit this feature should not be used for breeding. Form, color and markings should not the prime aim in breeding. Breed Type Head: fairly long with a broad, high and curved forehead, the peak crest a full broad set peak with a well closed mane at the back of the neck, the peak tip should be in a line over the top (level) of the head. Eyes: dark, with a pale flesh color eye cere. Beak: medium length, fine pale with the beak cere small, neat and not overdeveloped. Neck: medium length, because of the rich profuse) feathering, appearing strong and powerful. Breast: broad and full, protruding slightly forwards proudly Back: broad across the shoulders and slightly curved (not flat) Wings: carried on the tail, almost reaching the tail tip, not crossing. The primary (flight) feathers broad and elastic and from the breed typical wing beating may be slightly frayed. This is taken as a sign of typical flying action and not a fault in the shows) Tail: reasonably broad (the feathers should have broad webbing) but well closed. Legs: medium length, clean-legged, a lively red color. Feather: smooth, with tight elastic feathering with broad feather webbing. Color: Black, Blue with Black Bar, Checker, Red, Yellow, Mealy Bar, Mealy Check, Cream Bar, Cream Check, Blue Grizzle Color and Markings: The head and at least 6 primary flights are white, the rest of the feathering is colored, including the inside of the peak crest. The head marking should ideally follow in an even line, lightly curved, from approximately 5cm under the beak, under the eye, to the peak of the crest. All colors should be intense (rich and solid) the checkers with ideally evenly marked checkering on the wing shield. The Grizzle have a varying amount of White flecking on every feather, with dark color wing bars (with Grizzle you will not get true Black Bars) Black and Blue should have the back and tail the same even color. Red and Yellow should have even colored breast/belly but with paler tail color. Mealy and Cream with pale back and tail but with intensive neck, breast and bar color. The color of the belly and the thighs should match the wing shield color. With the pale tail colors, failing pigment in the upper and lower tail coverts should not result in the birds being penalized. Main Faults: the body too weak or too coarse (heavy, thick); a shell crest; beak with a dark tip; uneven color; poor markings; 'hairy' feather structure. Order of importance: overall impression - body shape - head and peak crest - structure of the feather - markings - feather color - beak color. Ring Size : (7mm)