January/February 2026

34 – Purebred PIGEON group of pigeons, to an individual flight with very specific charac- teristics, similar to the flight of the Hoopoe (Upupa epops) which nests in the Balearic Islands in spring after arriving from its migration from Africa. This bird flies with rapid wing beats at intervals of gliding very similar to the way the Ecampadissa flies, touching the tips of its wings to the end of its tail, creating an elongated elliptical shape similar to a grain of barley. It can be said that an Es- camapdissa flying while per- forming the ‘gra de d’ordi’ – the barley grain – is an unforgettable image due to its lightness and elegance, and it is a breeder’s pride to have the highest number of pigeons with this characteristic. S tandard General Appearance: It is a medium-sized pigeon with an elongated appearance due to its plumage, especially that of the wings and tail. The body position is horizontal. The plumage is abundant and slightly fluffy. It is an animal with a nervous and restless temperament, with a very special type of flight that has given the breed its name, because when starting to fly, they all rise together, circling in small circles until reaching a considerable height. From here, suddenly, the group scatters in all directions, and each bird returns individually to the loft, descending gradually. M y experience with the breed . Beyond the official standard published by FESACO- CUR and its projection in the European Entente of aviculture standard, there is hardly any information about the breed in Spanish, except for the monograph dedicated to the Escam- padissa in an article divided into four parts and published in the magazine Arte Avícola from issue 6 of 1994 and 1, 2, & 3 of 1995, authored by the Mal- lorcan enthusiast and historian Jaume Monserrat i Riera. In the Mallorcan language, there is abundant information in various works published by the local government of the Balearic Islands. My first two pairs arrived in Madrid from Palma by airplane courier as part of an exchange of pigeons of various breeds with Arnau Mayol i Cladera. Their adaptation was immediate, and they proved to be very prolific. I was able to exhibit them successfully in Brunete and Alba de Tormes contests, and although they won prizes for their breed, they did not attract the interest of other enthusiasts despite their low selling price at exhibitions, even for prize-winning animals. I was finally able to give my surpluses to two nearby enthusiasts interested in the breed who still keep them. Also, Jaime Betancourt, a fellow enthusiast and friend of mine who lives in New Jersey, was able to import several pairs from the Balearic Islands to the USA and has successfully bred them, so I believe they must be the only Escampadissas in that country. My pigeons were never tested in flight, but I had a lot of fun breeding them because they gave me a great variety of colors, patterns, and modifiers that were hidden in a recessive way. This allowed me to select slightly spotted specimens that appeared, until I obtained birds very close to complete white. I also selected blue grizzle specimens from dark checkers bronze smokey, which made the grizzle modifier go unnoticed. I even used my ‘Escampadissas’ to increase the number of feathers in the tails of my Borinos and, at the same time, increase their white areas by introducing the grizzle modifier.• Its weight ranges between 320 and 350 grams, its length