"Fascinating
Orliks of the Ukraine"
By
K. D. Spurling (Debut Oct'98)
In
the Ukrainian region of the ex United Soviet Socialist Republic exists a
certain class of flying pigeons that is most interesting. This
particular class of pigeons is native to the Black Sea region of the South
Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula and are generally known there by the
name of "Tucheresi" or "Tucurez". It said that the
first of these birds appeared at the city of Nikolayev (Nicholaev) in the
last century and over time have spread into the surrounding regions. This
class of pigeons has reach North America, beginning first in Canada as far
as 1967; and are often referred to as "Ukrainian Skycutters".
However, the term "Ukrainian Skycutter" is not exactly 100%
correct and has led to a great amount of misunderstanding. As I understand
it, Nikolayev is a city in the South Ukraine and "Tuchereti"
will in fact translate to mean "Cloud Cutter" - hence "Ukrainian
Skycutter". Unfortunately, a clear conception of the name has never
been held on this continent and in fact, three different breeds have been
given the generic name of "Ukrainian Skycutter" resulting in a
great amount of confusion. These three races are the two Orlik varieties,
the Ukrainian Shield Tumblers and a strain of white Nikolajevski. The
result has been that because of this generic name, the three have been
crossed to a horrible degree. It would be my opinion that at least half of
the so called Ukrainian Shields in North America are actually crosses
between the two Orlik races and the White Nikolajevski. So for the future,
let us rid ourselves of this term "SkyCutter" as a breed; since
it refers to a class of similar breeds and let Orliks
be known
as Orliks,
Nikolajevski as Nikolajevski (or Nikos) and the Shield races (2 races of
these) as Shields. This situation would be much worse if other Tuchereti
races such as the Kursks, Charkovski Whitetails and others were present in
North America. In stead of three races being confused as one. These
differing races have in common a relation to one another that is as
similar as the Saxon Spots, Saxon Storks and Saxon Shields. The birds are
related so closely that they differ very little from one another, but no
one in their right mind would call them as one race and maliciously cross
them together for no genuine reason. It
is not the purpose of this paper to describe the entire Tuchereti family
as space does not permit for this, but instead it is aimed at discussing
the two races which are known as Orliks in their native land. Still, much
of what applies to the Orlik does apply to the
Nikolajevski Tuchereti,
Nikolajevski Boczaty(Ukrainian Shield), Kurski Tuchereti, Charkovski
Whitetails and the others for the general enlightenment. The
Orlik as it is known, could be defined as being the westernmost race of
Tuchereti class breeds. This race is indigenous to the grassy plains of
East Poland and western White Russia. Undoubtedly, the breed is of a
Russian/Ukrainian descent but the breed is regarded as one of the most
traditional flying breeds in Poland. All authorities upon Polish breeds
claim the breed as Polish in origin, and in fact; the name "Orlik"
is the Polish name for a young eagle (eaglet). This name was given by
early fanciers who saw in the air, due to the breed's short neck and broad
wings and tail; a similarity to a small eagle who rode air thermals to
high altitudes. In fact, when the breed first reached the English speaking
countries, they were referred to as "Orlik Falcon Tumblers" -
even in this country. Well, they are no Falcons and definitely not a
Tumbler! Senor
Ralph Buch Brage of Cuba has put forth the belief in his correspondences
to Levi that the Orlik was descended from birds brought to the Black Sea
region by Spanish sailors in the 18th century. Brage cited the Catalonian
Red Whitetails (Roig Coliblancas) as the parent of this class of pigeon in
this theory. However, Brage was never aNe to put forth any proof or even
supporting evidence to even begin to suggest such a thing. I for one, cannot understand careful student of Domestic Pigeons could
even begin to put forth such a blunderous theory! The fact is, such a
theory borders on near insanity. Having
kept and flown both races I am prepared to say it, there are absolutely no
similarities between the Tuchereti and Roig Coliblancas other than the
color and to my knowledge, throughout the world is found no other class of
breeds who exhibit the tell tale signs of family Tucheresi in the air -
and definitely not among the Catalonian and its related breeds are a very
far cry from ever matching the Tuchereti for endurance or altitude; let
alone to display anything near the true flying style. Any sort of
connection between the two had to be a product of Brage's own imagination. In
fact, we have a very good idea as to how the Orlik came about. In the
Middle East there is a breed known as "Ghirbhaz" (not sure if
this spelling is correct having only been told of this breed in
conversations with fanciers of Mid Eastern descent). The Ghirbhaz are a
small race of tumblers with very large wings, (28 to 30 inch wing spans).
These birds are commonly Com. Red and Yellow pigeons; either white tail
marked, Bellnecked or splashed. The Ghirbhaz are said to "fly like
ravens" in that they ride the air thermals and are capable of
standstill flight, the birds on occasion tumbling. It is known that all
but a handful of all Slavic races of tumblers were introduced into
Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, the Ukraine, etc. with the Turkish
dominion. It would be my personal opinion that the Ghirbhaz were
introduced to the South Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula by the Turks and
from these have sprung the Nikolajevski Tutcheresi and possibly other
races which came to be with the Ghirbhaz being bred to the local
tastes. It is interesting to note, that in
portions of Romania are to be found some races who bear some
similarity to
the Nikolajevski Tutchereti, but they lack the flying style. These
birds include the Romanian White Tailed Tumbler
(Porumbel Codalb
Romanesc), the Bucharest Ciung (Ciung de Bucuresti) and also the Romanian
Naked Necked Tumbler (Ciung Cheli or "Git Golass"). These birds
are strikingly similar in type to the Nikolajevski. The latter is very
interesting for a number of reasons. In the first place, some authorities
have described a race of Russian Naked Necked Tumbler called "Golsenia"
and they cite this as the originator of the Romanian race. The Golsenia is
(or was?) somewhat similar to the Nikolajevski so there seems to be some
relation there. Even more interesting; many
of the
Nikolajevski, Nikolajevski Boczaty and Orliks in North America
exhibit the signs of being heterozygous for the naked neck factor. Many of
the young birds show a tendency of thin plumage and damaged barbules in
the back of the neck, but these signs generally disappear after the
juvenile moult. In years past, this writer had not only the Romanian Naked
Necks, but also a strain of Dom. Red Thailand Fantails with naked necks.
These naked necked Thailand's arose from typical Thailand's with normal
necks, but on occasions produced a naked necked specimen. All of the
heterozygous birds were intermediate for the factor showing "damaged"
plumage in the back of the neck, which generally disappeared after the
first moult.
The first aerial standard
of the Nikolajevski is said to have been put up at Nikolayev in 1872 and
is denoted as "Nikolajevski-Torzovi" according to a chart that
shows flying styles put up by Dmitri Geller in the 1980's. It seems that the
Nikolajevski were gradually introduced into other portions of Western
Russia during the 19th Century and bred to meet local tastes while
upholding the theme of the flight style. It was in thj way that the Orliks
arose, arising Ii the Northwest of the Russian Ukrain and splitting into
two sub varieties The
first of these sub varieties is the "Orlik Wilenski", denoting
cultivation at Vilnius (Wilno) where after the Bolshevik Revolution was in the northern portion of the White Russian S.S.R. Today
Vilnius is the capital city of Lithuania. The Wilenski's easiest
identifying mark that it drags its wings beneath the tail. The
other sub variety is "Orik Polski" or "Orlik Lubelski"
which denotes the city of Lublin in East Poland. The Lubelski carries the
wings upon the tail. The
breed occurs
most commonly in Dom. Red and Yellow, but also existent are some
Blacki Bronze birds and also Blues wibars. The Black/Bronze birds are of
the "Kite" type with a rich red bronze cast over the Black.
These are not very common. This writer has never seen a Blue Orlik, but he
would like to obtain them! Also sometimes reported are Silvers, Dun/Sulphers
and on occasions, Blue Checkers. The Orlik is a Self colored bird with a
white tail, and on each side of the tail are two colored retrices as a
frame (in the ideal.) This is one area where the Nikolajevs and the Orliks
differ. The Orlik is always white tailed with the frame
feathers, whereas
the Nikolajevski comes in all markings. The White Tailed
Nikolajevski are not required to have the frame retrices. However, many
Orliks are seen with white in the thumb feathers and also the primaries,
as well as elsewhere. These are to be considered as faulted. Considering
the 2 X 2 frame retrices as the ideal, the Orlik is not exactly simple to
produce for the show room. This writer has seen only a handful of 2 X 2
birds, and unorthodoxly marked tails are far more the rule. It
is in the air where the Orliks and other Tutcheresi show their true mettle,
and all birds should be valued primarily upon their flying ability. In the
first place, the terms "Tumbler" or "Highflier" are
incorrect. "Tumbler" implies that the birds execute backward
(or even
forward) somersaults - something no Orlik, Nikolajevski or other
member of this class should do. The act of tumbling is to be regarded as a
severe fault and any birds which show such actions should be destroyed
outright upon sight. The term "highflier", while more suitable
is not 100% correct. Thomas Hellmann of Germany (pers. com.) has suggested
the use of the term "style flier" and for the record, that is
the best to date along with the term "Tutcheresi" or "Tucerez"
as indeed, the birds are to be evaluated based upon their style of flight
and wing action. Two
main variations of flight are recognized amongst this class of breeds: "SERPASTI" The
"Serpasti" style is thought to be the oldest of the two
variations and was known at the latest by the early 19th Century at
Nikolayev in the South Ukrain. Of the two flying styles, it is also
somewhat less desirable. The
"Serpasti" are those who maintain a more normal (front to back)
wing action as seen in other races of high caliber flying pigeons. The
wing action is graceful and light in its power and the birds will ride
upon air thermals in broad circles, soaring like birds of prey. (Hence the
name "Orlik" (small eagle). The "S erpasti" type does
not "kit" as could a kit of rollers or Viennas, but tend to soar
in broad circles in total disregard to one another as is seen in kettles
of Vultures who amass in very large numbers over the top or carrion. This
type of flight seems to be the most often seen amongst this breed, and is
of less value than the more developed type as described below. "TORZOVI" As
already stated, the "Torzovi" type is considered to be of more
value that the "Serpasti" type. The Nikolajevski-Torzovi was
first standardized at Nikolayev in 1872 and from this has arisen several
sub types which are hard to describe. The
basic "Torzovi" is a pigeon of a unique wing action and flight
style. Unlike other pigeons, this type has a reversed wing action which is
back to front, opposed to the normal front to back. It is my opinion that
because of this wing action they are able to somehow manipulate their
style of flight. This adverse wing action is even conspicuous to an
experienced flying fancier at a very high altitude as one can see the
wings flashing rather conspicuously; especially on a sunny day about late
morning. One will see these pigeons form loose kits at very low altitudes
and then they will come to a complete standstill in mid air, their wings
flashing oddly while the birds hang in place. This action is called
"Stop" and old experienced fliers may hang in one spot in mid
flight for a few minutes on end. It is found that the birds continue to
improve with age. These pigeons will then soar upwards without circling
like kites to an extreme altitude. Most good highflying breeds require 20
to 30 minutes of flight to reach the edge of invisibility, but the Torzovi
can cover this altitude in a matter of only a few minutes time. Kits of
older experienced birds have been timed from liberation to invisibility at
times of only five minutes, and one team has covered this ground in 4
minutes 46 seconds. These pigeons are capable of such fast ascendants
rates primarily due to the fact that their manner of flight is straight up
as though they were climbing a ladder, opposed to gradual climbing by
flying in circles or zig zagging upwards. After
experience with over 300 breeds, I am prepared to say it; no breed in this
world is remotely capable of matching the Tutchereti class for high flying
or endurance and 4 am prepared to prove this. In the future, I will accept
any reasonable flying challenge from any team of Tipplers, Budapest's,
Viennas, Swifts,
Srebrniaks, Szegedins or others on this continent and for any rate of
wager. This is being done for the much needed serious promotion of the
flying sports on the North American continent and also to once and for all
rid this country of the "bull" that is being slung about by
dealers of so called flying pigeons, when in fact; the glowing accounts of
these reports are the invention of a few non scrupulous merchants for the
sake of hype and the all mighty dollar. Keep in mind, I am definitely not
against the active commercialization of breeds of pigeons - But, there are
some fanciers in this country charging hundreds of dollars for a pair of
so called high caliber flying pigeons and for their money people are
receiving garbage in the form of "roof warmers". Unfortunately, the Tutcheresi are not the easiest pigeons to train to meet their full potential. Some breeds, such as the Budapest Highfliers are natural fliers who require limited amount of work for good results; but others require extra time. The Orliks are stubborn pigeons and if the fancier is not in control of them, the Orliks will be in control of the fancier himself. The breed is best flown in a selected kit of three proven birds and they must be disciplined strictly as to feed, type of feed and where to land after. If one does not put forth the effort, he will not, and should not expect to receive good results. When the birds are at their best, there is nothing that they cannot do. Fanciers in the USA will never come close to matching the 28 hour record put up at Petrograd in NW Russia because there are many environmental barriers that we cannot overcome Particularly, in No. Russia; all flying contests are held during the summer months and especially during the "White Nights" when there is only at best 20 minutes of dusk. With 24 hours of day like light the teams can fly to their utmost physical limit. In this country, we do not have such a thing and even in order to exceed 15 or so hours we must use high power spotlights and leg bells to try to track the kit. The birds can fly in darkness and I generally fly mine at about 3 AM, but without the spotlights and bells they are virtually impossible to track in the darkness. Even at that, no national club permits night time contests even with such devices.
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