THE SYRIAN TARBESH

(Abu Abse Wammentauben) in Australia
By Dr Colin Walker BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, MACVSc (Avian health)

From a pigeon point of view, Australia was genetically isolated from the rest of the world from 1956 until 1989. This was because of the import ban on all birds. This meant that the Australian pigeon gene pool remained essentially unaltered (apart from a few illegal imports) for over 30 years. The pigeons that were in Australia at this time reflected the migration pattern into Australia prior to 1956 and so the breeds present essentially originated from the UK and western Europe. Many pigeon fanciers in Australia throughout this time, although very familiar with these breeds and colour varieties within them, were largely unfamiliar with the types of pigeon found in other parts of the world.

Through the ages, pigeon breeding has occurred in many parts of the world and because of the difficulty of travel in earlier times often this has occurred in relative isolation. Desirable mutations that appeared in these discrete populations of pigeons were selected for and through time stabilized into breeds. Many of these genetic characteristics were totally unfamiliar to the Australian fancy pigeon scene. Australian fanciers had essentially been cocooned for over 35 years, breeding from birds that for the most part originated from the UK and western Europe. The situation has now changed.

Since the 1970s, with Australia’s broadening immigration policy and the relaxation of the import ban, Australia now finds itself in the fortunate situation of having citizens who have an awareness and familiarity with breeds exotic to Australia from many parts of the world and also the ability to import them. As a result, many new and wonderful breeds have appeared, including the German Beauty Homer, Nuremburg Lark, Komoner Tumbler and Rshev Tumbler, etc, etc. But for me, the real treasure trove of new genetic material is that found in the Middle East. Here the breeding of colour and performing pigeons was popular and established well before the Christian era and because it occurred in relative isolation from Europe, many different breeds, many with genetic characteristics not found in European breeds, appeared. Many of these breeds don’t have English names and we simply don’t have English terms to describe the colours many occur in.

In earlier times, only a few of the breeds developed in the Middle East ever reached the West. Along the way, their original names were given an English version, eg Scandaroon, Oriental Frill. Since 1989, however, many breeds and new colours within breeds that originated in the Middle East have appeared in Australia including the Damascene, the Egyptian and Syrian Swifts, Dewlaps, and Lebanons.

If one visits various Syrian, Turkish or Lebanese web sites, however, one can see that these are just the tip of the iceberg.

One particularly fascinating breed to recently reach Australia is the Syrian Tarbesh. Known in many parts of the world as Abu Abse Wammentaube (literally black, crowned or crested dewlap pigeon). This is an ancient breed originating from Syria whose outstanding features are its unique crests, green eyes, and intense black colour with its accompanying sheen. This amazing bird is not only black but iridescent black (similar to the black of an Archangels wing) all over. It has 14-24 tail feathers. The Tarbesh has deep green eyes and a pair of crests, one on each side of its head. Each crest originates just behind the cere, runs just above the eye (like an exaggerated eyebrow) and stops on the back of the head. The crest feathers curve in, so that it is possible for a good specimen to hold a cigarette or pen on the top of its head. Also the crest does not appear until the first moult at 4-5 months. All of the youngsters are smooth-headed. No European crested breed has an acquired crest; all have their crests always present.

The Syrian Tarbesh was initially imported into Australia by a Syrian ex-patriot, living in Melbourne, Adnan Alsaleem in the mid 1990’s. Only one cock and one hen were ever imported. I got to know Adnan both as a client and as a friend around this time and visited his lofts several times. During these visits I saw the Tarbesh and was fascinated by them. They were so different from all other pigeon breeds that I had experienced and almost seemed like a pheasant/pigeon hybrid. Adnan moved back to Syria in the early 2000’s and he offered the Tarbesh for sale to me. I jumped at this opportunity and bought all of them. Having said that, at this time there were only 4 purebred birds in the country. These birds moved to my lofts and although appearing in good health and being keen to breed, their fertility was a problem.