March/April 2025

16 – Purebred PIGEON Retrocolombicultura The Jurassic Park of Extinct Pigeon Breeds Text, photos and pigeons by Ángel Luis Rodríguez Barbero. Member of ASRA & RBPC Retrocolombicultura could be defined as the branch of pigeon culture that studies ancient breeds of extinct pigeons and their way of reviving or recreating them by knowing their ancestors or the degree of kinship with other nearby breeds. In the great first film of the Jurassic Park saga John Hammond said, “Creation Is An Act Of Sheer Will! Next Time It’ll Be Flawless!” My project to recreate or revive some extinct Spanish pigeon breeds stumbled upon an unforeseen event: an insid- ious neighbor near the old country house I bought for my pigeons. After complaints and denunciations about the noise of the pigeons, I had to take my pigeons from there. So that the next time I try it, the result will be flawless. But now back to... THE BEGINING. About five years ago – I don’t remember if I was first chatting on the phone through the chat of some social network with veteran pigeon fans from my country, or discovering Spanish breeds in the Encyclopedia of Pigeon Breeds by Wendell M. Levi, breeds of which I had never heard, seen or read anything, I thought of bringing back to life those breeds that Levi had knowledge of and cited in his work by personal communication of Raphael Buch Brage. My great friend Rafael Fernández de Zafra, a great ex- pert and whom I call a modern historian of pigeons, pointed out tasty data about some of those breeds of which he had the privilege – or perhaps the misfortune – of knowing their last pure or mixed specimens. Also, the great master of Spanish pigeon breeding (and fortunately also a friend) Ricardo Castellano Torrejón gave me his point of view and some interesting data. THE PROJECT. Thanks to the kindness of my partner and friend