The show standard follows the usual COM format: a Technical Description with an illustration of the ideal bird. Birds like this should have points deducted, but should not be disqualified. A mealy London Fancy by Andy Early showing dark ticks on its back. The new show standard therefore makes allowances for this in the wording “clear, or almost clear” birds with melanin feathers on the head and body should be penalised according to the extent of those markings, but not disqualified. I have seen instances where judges have discarded good birds that fall short of perfection in this respect. This was also true of the original London Fancy a bird with perfectly clear feathers is (and was) exceptionally rare. It accepts the reality that most London Fancies display some melanin on the head and body. Iii) The third change is more pragmatic, but is essential if the London Fancy is to thrive as an exhibition bird. Two mealy (schimmel) London Fancy canaries: an irregular crescent (left) and a precise crescent (right). This feature has now been introduced into the Show Standard. Most birds, and good ones too, have either light feathers in the coverts, or conversely, dark feathers on the body which results in an irregular profile. ![]() It may sound obvious once you are aware of it, but is very difficult to achieve. It is the crescent-shaped boundary between the dark feathers of the wings and the light feathers on the back. Ii) One of the most important characteristics of the London Fancy has never been formally acknowledged, even though it is evident in all the illustrations from the 19th century. A white London Fancy canary (Piet Renders) They were all accepted when the proposed standard was submitted to the OMJ in 2018 (1), but as of 8 December 2022 the COM standard does not recognise brown London Fancy canaries. We now have several colour combinations that never existed in the original breed: yellow-brown (cinnamon) white-black (white) and white-brown (fawn) in addition to yellow-black (the traditional colour) in both intensive and non-intensive versions. That bird possessed recessive genes for white and brown. I) Piet Renders, the founder of the modern London Fancy canary, used a colour canary in his breeding experiments. There are several reasons why it was necessary to update the standard, but these are the most significant: Right? Yes, but there’s much more to it than that. Most canary fanciers will have a good idea of what the London Fancy should look like: a yellow bird with dark wings and tail. To avoid confusion I have removed the 2015 post and now publish the show standard that has been submitted to COM in all seven languages. There is a new drawing of the ideal bird too. The ideal bird is recognisably the same, but both the Scale of Points and the Technical Description have evolved over the last few years. It supersedes the LFCC show standard that I published here in 2015. The show standard has been translated from English into six other languages, which may help to explain the growing international interest in the breed. I don’t want to prejudge the outcome, but recognition of the London Fancy by COM would give the revival of the breed a huge boost.ĬOM is an international organisation, and when I was asked by Andy Early to become involved in the project in 2018 we agreed that we should present the breed in as many languages as possible. If you didn’t know, you can read my report here. Regular readers of this blog will be aware that the London Fancy canary passed the second of three tests at the World Show in Matosinhos, Portugal last month. For more information please refer to my article “Mission accomplished: the London Fancy recognised by COM”. ![]() ![]() ![]() This article was updated on 11 December 2022 following the recognition of the London Fancy by COM, but please note that the COM standard does not recognise brown London Fancy canaries at present.
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