The Speelderken and the Belgian Ringbeater

 

Drawing by Johan de Crem

The speelderken is an old belgian breed , that was most likely the belgian Ringbeater . Persumably the two breed are closely related

The Breed's Characteristics

Small Pigeon with broad breast ,low and horizontal stance.

• Long head, forehead high and well filled , a peak crest at the back of the head
• Eyes yellowish orange or reddish orange.
• Bill forms on obtuse angle with the forehead.Colour coresponding with plumage colour
• Eye ceres narrow and smooth, colour coresponding with plumage colour
• Peak crest placed high on the back of the head, running over in the manes. The manes are full and closed.The crest should be at least as high as the top of the skull
• Wings rather short and carried on top of the tail. Slightly worn down primary tips as a result of ringbeating is allowed in the cock birds.
• tail narrow and carried horizontal
• Legs smooth, nails preferable white 

The Speelderken, A pigeon with 7 white markings

• Semicircular white bib which ends close to the eyes and should not run over in the neck or on the throat,
• Both wings between 7 and 13 white primaries. An odd feather , if not visible in a closed wing, is allowed.Colour of the thumb feathers is not important.
• White wing rosed - a few white feathers only, on both wing shields.
• White belly,legs and vent
• White rump
• White spot small or medium size on forehead
• White spot on the back, at the base of the neck 

Belgian Ringbeater

• A rather large and broad, heavy pigeon
• Semi-high , sloping stance , upright posture.
• Large, long head with a high and wide forehead. A broad peak crest placed high on the back of the head, running over in the manes. The crest should be atleast as high as the top of the skull
• Eyes reddish orange.One or both eyes broken is allowed.One dark eye in combination with a reddish orange eye or a broken eye is also allowed. Two dark eyes is a fault
• Eye ceres narrow and smooth, colour corrresponding with plumage colour
• Bill medium and narrow , white in Red and Yellow;in red hens some colour is allowed.In all other varieties bill colour corresponding with plumage colour.Wattles smooth and small
• Breast broad and deep and fully muscled, carried forwards
• Back is broad
• Mid-length wings and carried on top of the tail
• Tail mid-length and carried horizontal
• Legs medium , nails preferable white

Colour and Markings:

• The ends of the semicircular white bib, max 5 CM high , may go up as high as the eyes
• At least 6 white outer primaries.Odd feathers, as long as not visible in a closed wing, are allowed
• Belly, legs, vent and rump white
• In colours based on Ash-red and Ash-yellow the tail is pale coloured. In Ash-red some soot in the tails is allowed

Ringbeating is courting behavior and the cock birds start displaying there ringbeats to impress the hens. For a ringbeat demonstration watch the video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cueV7zM1bLk