Standard of Perfection

By: Nino Bugeja
Date: 3 Mar 06
Category: General

Behind every loft is a breeder that is continuously striving to breed more
specimens that mirror the "Standard " of whatever he is breeding, in this
case we are the breeders of "Endurance Flying Tipplers".

What we are talking about is a medium sized bird capable of prolonged flight
for many hours at one time. Like all things in nature this breed of bird has
evolved over many years, and in this case "Nature" had very little to do
with what we have today.

I guess I am talking about the fact that the "Man" has created the "Tippler"
of today by years of trial and error, and "Selection" of stock that the
sport deemed as the "Ideal" or "Standard" for the breed.

Prolonged flight does not just happen, it comes from such specimens that
carry all the correct, or closest standards that make this possible, lets
talk about some of them for a moment.

Balance, is in a nut shell what we look for when studying a birds worth at
first glance, for without it the bird would be hard pressed to achieve what
we are looking for in Endurance. This is its general appearance of its
"Confirmation", and the "Standard " that we all strive for.

"Confirmation" what is that you say? Well it is the relationship of one's
body parts to other body parts. You know, how long is its upper arm in
relationship to its lower arm, or does its length of neck fit its body
properly. Is the head to big or to small, body to long or to short in
relationship to its size and wing length? All this type of scenario makes up
what we call "Confirmation." When everything fits correctly we have a bird
of proper "Conformation" and "Balance."

Feathering is by far one of the most important factors to all flying breeds,
as it is the feathers that allow the birds to achieve their goal. Feathers
should fall and overlap each other over the entire bird with no exceptions.

When dealing with the wings, there are two parts that we recognize, and that
is the "Primaries", and the "Secondaries". In my opinion it is the
Secondaries that are of the greatest importance as it is these that give the
bird "Lift" and keep it afloat in the air. There should be 10, of good
depth, each one of good width and overlapping the other, with no gaps or
holes. The "Primaries" should be of good width, never thin and spindly, and
count out to 10, again with good overleaping, with no steps in their
appearance and be even throughout the length of the wing.

As you can see there are many things that make up the "Standard" and I have
just touched on a few.

The one thing we have not talked about is the birds ability to take all that
great "Confirmation" and use it to its fullest ability. This is its genetic
makeup in the area of "Endurance". If the breeder has been able to, with
selective breeding, harness that quality in his birds, then he has strived
and succeeded in his quest to improve his family of birds and maintain the
highest "Standard of Perfection".
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