Origin

This breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 of pigeon

Domestic Pigeon

The Domestic Pigeon was derived from the Rock Pigeon. The Rock Pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets mention the domestication of pigeons more than 5,000 years ago, as do Egyptian hieroglyphics.Research suggests that domestication of pigeons was as early as...

 was developed through selective breeding

Selective breeding

Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 from originally imported Tumbler

Tumbler (pigeon)

Tumbler pigeons are varieties of domesticated pigeons descendant from the Rock Dove that have been selected for their ability to tumble or roll over backwards in flight....

 Pigeon stocks. The APT has been a popular flying variety in the past due to the spinning/rolling action typical of the Tumbler varieties. Wendell Levi discusses the tumbling performance and several early Tumbler breeds in his book The Pigeon. Earlier versions of the APT were quite good little performers in the air. Nowadays however the breed is maintained mainly for exhibition purposes having first been developed for the show pen in the State of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. The APT is a very popular show variety in the Australian States of New South Wales and Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, where the largest number of breeders of this variety can be found. A show standard

Breed standard

A breed standard in animal fancy and animal husbandry is a set of guidelines which is used to ensure that the animals produced by a breeder or breeding facility conform to the specifics of the breed....

was adopted by the Australian National Pigeon Association in 1991 and has now been upgraded further thanks largely to the efforts of Mr Max Van Geet and Mr Vaughan Kelly

Description

The APT is medium faced, pearl eyed, clean legged and quite reminiscent of the old style English Long Faced Tumbler as seen in Levis book. With its nicely rounded head, short cobby body and its available selection of classic tumbler colors such as recessive red, kite and almond, the APT is an attractive specimen to see in the show pens. A quiet variety that is able to be used as a foster parent for other breeds increases the APT's usefulness.