Principal Tumbler-Roller Pigeons in Bangladesh

Department of Biology, Cantonment Public College, Saidpur Cantonment—5311, Nilphamari, Bangladesh

*Corresponding author: Ashraful Kabir, Department of Biology, Cantonment Public College, Saidpur Cantonment—5311, Nilphamari, Bangladesh, Phone: +88-01712563750; E-mail: [email protected]

Received Date: February 26, 2026

Published Date: March 12, 2026

Citation: Kabir A. (2026). Principal Tumbler-Roller Pigeons in Bangladesh. Mathews J Vet Sci. 10(2):105.

Copyrights: Kabir A. © (2026).

ABSTRACT

Bangladesh is rich with many tumbler and roller pigeons. Divisional cities of Bangladesh especially Dhaka and Rajshahi are the major cities of available tumbler and roller pigeons. Month-wise visits in mentioned pigeon markets of Bangladesh resulted the PCA (principal component analysis) with training set and test set where Vienna short-faced tumbler, komorner tumbler, Dhaka tumbler (produced from Pakistani highflyer), Iranian tumbler, indigenous lotan, parlor roller, and English magpie were mostly preferred out of 21 tumbler-roller pigeons. Further studies need to be noted with sufficient data in future.

Keywords: Tumbler Pigeon, Roller Pigeon, Highflyer Pigeon, Morphometrics, Characteristics, Bangladesh.

INTRODUCTION

Rock-pigeons could have been domesticated for squabs in nesting caves [1]. Pigeon rearing was practiced by the Romans for a very early date and France especially has a long history of keeping pigeon [2]. Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, and England have dovecote history [3]. The chequer pattern with blue color was common in dovecote pigeons, and this pattern is the result of mutation with wider wing bars and black markings. Darwin [4] described that all species originated from an ancestor by natural selection. It is assumed that there is a neurological defect in tumbler pigeons [5,6]. A problem was found in vestibular apparatus of the inner ear which is the sensory part of the balance mechanism [5]. Subsequently, an abnormality has been found at the junctions between peripheral nerves and skeletal muscle cells in parlor tumblers but this is not considered to be the explanation for their tumbling behavior [6]. Grimshow [7] and Gilbert [8] also described the tumbler and their performance. The objective of this write-up is to focus the most common tumbler pigeons among other pigeons in the markets.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Observed pigeons: Total 21-types of pigeons like Vienna short-faced tumbler, komorner tumbler, Dhaka tumbler, Iranian tumbler, indigenous lotan, Indian lotan, parlor roller, English magpie, erlau tumbler, stargard shaker, Turkish tumbler, Hamburg helmet, Serbian highflyer, flying tippler, Uzbek tumbler, Pakistani highflyer, mookee, German nun, English nun, bald-headed tumbler, and parlor tumbler were observed in the markets of Dhaka and Rajshahi District of Bangladesh.

PCA analysis by RStudio: Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the data analyses. Out of 11 parameters (weight, wing length, height, beak base thickness, beak length, nape length, neck thickness, tail length, tarsus length, and tarsus thickness were analyzed with the acceptance of the buyers of such pigeons. For this scientific note, a dataset on 21-types of tumbler pigeons of Bangladesh was used for statistical analyses [9].

RESULTS

Explanation of the results: Out of training set and test set, the SVM (support vector machine) visualized with same-colored dots of pigeons which were common in such markets.

Figure 1. In green area, all dots are green, there are no different dots, so in this group pigeons are more acceptable by the breeders in the market. Blue and red area are mixed with blue and red dots.

Figure 2. In green area, only one green dot is there. In blue area, there is red dot from the red area, so the blue portion and red portion are not considerable in this case.

Breeders’ perceptions about some tumblers/rollers

Huge tumbling of some pigeons supported these findings. Serbian and erlau pigeons are rare in Bangladesh. People do not know enough about these pigeons. Lotans are the same to the local pigeons, so it can easily mix with local ones. Without shaking, breeders cannot know about this breed, so naturally these pigeons can mate with others and produce different pigeons (genetically mixed).

Table 1. Tumbler/Roller at Dhaka and Rajshahi pigeon markets

*First priority pigeons at the markets

Used dataset: Pares-Casanova and Kabir [9] used this dataset in a broader way. By using that dataset only PCA was carried out just for knowing the acceptance of tumbler and roller pigeons in the markets on the basis of the following parameters.

Appendix 1. Observed tumblers and rollers in pigeon markets

DISCUSSION

Darwin [4] described that all species originated from an ancestor by natural selection, and these tumblers or rollers are not exception in this case. There is a neurological defect in tumbler pigeons [5,6]. A problem was found in vestibular apparatus of the inner ear which is the sensory part of the balance mechanism [5]. An abnormality has been found at the junctions between peripheral nerves and skeletal muscle cells in parlor tumblers [6]. Semi-intensive rearing system is suitable for the proper breeding of lotan pigeons [10]. Colorful highflying pigeons are known as gorra pigeons and most of them were found black-pied [11]. Interbreeding suggested that roller genes (ro) are found in any breeds due to escaping behavior of pigeons as well as non-selective breeding by the breeders. Recently, in Bangladesh, pigeon importers are importing uncommon tumbler pigeons from the abroad.

CONCLUSIONS

Bangladesh is the land of various types of pigeons especially tumblers. From the very beginning, many highflyers were found in Bangladesh. Some highflyers were found in the top height of the sky. From the core of collection, many people are habituated to fly highflyer pigeon, and by the course of time, due to loss of such pigeons, or caught by the predator birds like falcons, now breeders prefer short height tumbler pigeon not extreme highflyer pigeon. Out of many tumbler/roller pigeons, people choice Vienna short-faced, komorner tumbler, Dhaka tumbler, Iranian tumbler, indigenous lotan, parlor roller, and English magpie mostly for their short height tumbles or rolls and beautiful appearance. Additionally, the price of these pigeons was reasonable at pigeon markets. These pigeons could be significant pigeon breeds for the profit with the fulfilment of the hobby. Considering limitations, need to establish this type of experimental design with sufficient data for more clarification.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

None.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Ther is no conflict of interest.

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