Pictures of My Fantail Family

The photographs above are of my original pair of fantails, the male on the left, the female on the right. Since I have had them, they have had eggs nine times. The first seven ended after six days, when one egg would be crushed in the nest and the other thrown out of the nest. The seventh clutch resulted in two healthy young birds, the eighth resulted in two hatching, but one dying a week later.

The above photographs are of the first successful pair of youngsters. The male, whom I have named "Helmut" is on the left, the female on the right. Helmut is the only one I have named. The crest or fin along the back of his neck reminds me of the old Roman helmets, hence the name Helmut. He is the only one with such a crest/fin. Since the date of this picture, Helmut's crest had gotten larger. I like it. UPDATE: As it turns out, both these birds are females. In December 1997, they formed a pair bond and laid four eggs in the same nest. At least now I know for sure what their sex is. UPDATE: On 1 April 1998, this bird failed to return to the dovecote before nightfall. She has not been seen since. She leaves behind her mate, the original male and two 1-1/2 week old chicks.

The above photographs are of the second successful hatching. The one on the left is about 3-1/2 weeks old. The one on the right is dead and buried. It died exactly one week after hatching. At death, it was the same size as it was when hatched, while it's nestmate was much, much larger. It was like comparing a golf ball to a softball. I placed the crossed feathers there to help mark the site. If you use a little imagination, it looks like a dove emerging from the grave and flying up to the heavens above.

The above photos are of the fantail I have named "Q-Tip". He was severely beaten and thrown out of his nest when he was 3-1/2 weeks old. His nest mate died from ingesting food contaminated with car engine oil. His mother ate the oil then fed it to the youngster. After it died, the parents ignored the remaining baby and it was eventually beaten up brutaly by the original male (not it's own father). I found him on the dovecote floor one morning, motionless and close to death. His left wing was broken at the wrist and his left leg was also messed up. I cut the primaries on the left wing because he kept stepping on the wingtip. After two months, I pulled the cut feathers out and new ones quickly grew in. He still can not fly. As you can see in the photo on the right, he carries his left wingtip under his vent. Hopefully he will be able to fly again. UPDATE: It has been four months since this photo was taken. I am happy to say that Q-Tip did finally get strong enough to fly, although poorly at best. He survived the Great Flood of 1998. A photo of him taken shortly after the flood is on my Great Flood page. I am sad to say that on Monday, November 23rd, I found Q-Tip on the floor of the dovecote. He was in the same place where I found him almost dead, when he was three weeks old. This time, however, he was dead. I don't know the cause of death, but I suspect he was just too weak to go on. Good bye, my friend.

The above photograph is of Mr. Conrad P. Iacomacci. He works evenings at the same military library I do. He was kind enough to donate the newspaper clipping of his mother holding the Iacomacci Four Legged Pigeon. Click the link below to view this amazing pigeon.

The above photograph is of myself. Still in need of a shave, it is a much better photograph than the one it replaced.

Go to Mike's Fantail Dovecote
Go to My Pigeon Story - How It All Started
Go to The Iacomacci Four Legged Pigeon
Go to The Daily Lives of Gimpy and C.T.

Email: goulian@kornet.net