THE ENGLISH NUN STANDARD

THE BRITISH NUN CLUB

English Nun ( EE Standard )

THE BRITISH NUN CLUB
ENGLISH NUN STANDARD OF PERFECTION
Ring Size ( B ) 8mm

ORIGIN

European, one of the oldest breeds recorded with a possibly common ancestry with the Helmet. They were originally flying tumblers before being developed for exhibition. Refered to by Aldrovandi circa 1600s and Moore in 1735, the high class modern Nun was developed by British fanciers in the late 1800s. The present breed club was formed in 1906.

OVERALL IMPRESSION ( TYPE & SIZE )

The Nun must be short, cobby and of medium size. Sprightly, upright in carriage with a well proportioned body and a large shell crest. The height of an adult cock Nun must be 242mm (9 ½”) from the base of the foot to the top of the head when the bird is standing correctly, and 250mm (10”) in length from the front of the chest to the tip of the tail. Hens and young birds preferably the same size but no smaller than 6mm (¼”) in height or length. Height measurement does not include shell crest. The following description is used as a base to judge the “ IDEAL “ perfect English Nun pigeon. The term “ must “ is used when referring to the ideal bird.

HEAD

Must be full in frontal with the forehead rising forward boldly above the beak in an unbroken curve until directly above the eye, then proceeding horizontally to meet the shell at an angle of 90 degrees. Here the head feathers form a cushion at the base of the shell that gives a more massive appearance. When viewed from the front the space between the eyes and at the cheeks must be full with plenty of substance, giving a broad and round appearance.

SHELL CREST

Must be as high, wide and thick as possible, continuing equally on both sides until it meets the head on the same level as the beak, and just below the eye ceres. The feathers must be vertically erect at the front of the shell making a 90 degree angle with the top of the head. The feathers then falling away to the back of the head in a regular curve with no split, until at the back of the neck falling the reverse way to form a small mane. The feathers at the sides of the shell must also fall away evenly to blend in with the neck. The shell must be entirely free from foul feathers.

EYES

Must be circular, full pearl or white in colour with a small black pupil. When viewed in profile the eyes should not be obscured by any feathers. Must be centrally placed in the head, half way between the beak opening and the shell setting. Must be placed vertically above the ball of the foot

EYE CERES

The eye ceres must be small, narrow and fine in texture, with colour to match that of the beak.

BEAK

Must be short at 10mm (3/8”), stout and straight set, ie: horizontal to the ground, with close fitting mandibles. An imaginary line running between both mandibles and extending backwards, would be just below the eye cere, but level with the shell setting. For beak colour see individual colours. The wattle must be small, fine in texture and with a delicate white bloom.

THROAT
Free from gullet

NECK

The neck must be strong looking, broad where it meets the shoulders gradually tapering to the throat and medium in length to give a solid foundation to the head and shell.

BREAST

Full, wide and rounded chest carried high and well forward.

BODY

Must be cobby, broad at the shoulders narrowing to the tail when viewed from above. The keel must be straight and extend behind the legs

BACK

Broad across the shoulders, narrowing toward the rump and tail.

WINGS & FLIGHTS
The feathers must be tight fitting, with the flights close to the body and on top of the tail. In no cases must the flights be crossed over the top of the tail or dropping below the tail. Must show a full complement of 10 primary and 10 secondary flights per wing. All coloured flights must run in sequence from the outer most flight inwards. The wing butts must be carried well forward and close to the body, giving the whole body a taper or wedge shape from the shoulders to the tail. They must be entirely free from foul feathers.

TAIL
Must be narrow ie: one feather wide and short as possible, extending no more than 13mm (½”) beyond the last flight, and with a full complement of 12 feathers. The coloured portion to start at the rump from above and the vent from below. Must be carried 13mm (½”) above the floor.

LEGS & FEET

Must be straight, clean and entirely free from foul feathers below the hocks and medium in length. They must be well set apart, and well set back to give a slightly hollow appearance between the shoulders which imparts so much smartness to the carriage. Legs must be bright red in colour. Thighs must be entirely free from foul feathers. The ball of the foot must be vertically below the eye. Small, bright red in colour and entirely free from feathers with the toe nails matching the colour of the beak and eye ceres.

PLUMAGE
The feathers must be soft, broad, smooth and with a good sheen. Condition must be clean and hard with tight fitting feathers on the body, head, flights and tail. A certain amount of looseness must be recognised to the shell feathers to get the desired height, width and shape.

MARKINGS
The head, bib, tail and ten primary flights on each wing must be coloured. The rest of the body and wings must be pure white. The marked portion must be well defined and regular in outline, deep and lustrous in colour.

BIB
Must be full, deep and regular in curve, being a continuation of the head marking and joining in at the base of the shell but not extending up at the back of the shell or mane. The bib must extend down the neck and finish on the chest level with the top of the wing buts, and must not extend any further around the neck than the front half.

COLOUR
The colour of the feathers in the marked portions must extend well down to the root, deep, lustrous and of an even shade.

RECOGNISED STANDARD COLOURS
BLACK - Self
As solid and dark as possible with a bright green sheen to the bib feathers, showing no signs of sootiness or dullness. Beak, ceres and toenails black.

DUN – Dilute black self
An even shade of dun throughout, darker and distinct from brown, with a bright green sheen to the bib feathers. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
BROWN – Self
A chocolate brown colour with a bright green sheen to the bib feathers. Evenness of colour throughout preferred. Sun bleaching of the flights is undesirable but not a serious fault. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
KHAKI – Dilute brown self
An even shade of khaki tan with a yellowish tinge. Sun bleaching of the flights is undesirable but not a serious fault. Beak, ceres and toenails light horn.
BLUE
A pale almost powder blue colour preferred, even in shade throughout with a bright green sheen to the bib feathers. Flights should be a darker shade with a tail bar as black as possible. Flights to show no signs of bronzing or redness. Beak, cers and toenails black.
SILVER – Dilute blue
A rich shade of silvery grey, with a bright green sheen to the bib feathers. The tail to have a dun coloured tail bar, darker the better. Flights to show no signs of bronzing or redness. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
BROWN BAR
An even shade of tan. Flights and tail a darker shade with a chocolate tail bar. Beak, cers and toenails dark horn.
KHAKI BAR – Dilute brown bar
An even shade of light khaki tan. Flights and tail a darker shade with a pale chocolate brown tail bar. Beak, ceres and toenails light horn.
RED – Recessive
A rich blood red colour throughout, deep and even in shade with a bright pinky sheen to the bib feathers. Beak, ceres and toenails flesh coloured.
YELLOW – Dilute recessive red
A rich golden yellow colour throughout, deep and even in shade with a bright pinky sheen to the bib feathers. Beak, ceres and toenails flesh coloured.
ASH RED – Mealy
An even shade of ash grey colour. Bib to be a dark red ground colour with an ash grey frosting. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
ASH YELLOW – Cream, dilute ash red
A light even shade of ash grey colour. Bib to be a dark yellow ground colour with a light ash grey frosting. Beak, eres and toenails light horn.
GRIZZLE
Available in blue, silver, brown bar, khaki bar, ash red and ash yellow. Each coloured feather to be a pepery mixture of the ground colour and white. Flights and tail a darker shade and less grizzled. Tail bar, beak, cers and toenails as for ach colour.
ANDALUSIAN – Indigo self
Bib to be blue-black colour with a faint black lacing to the feathers, gradually becoming darker on the head. Flights and tail to be a lighter shade of grey-blue with black quills. Beak, ceres and toenails black. A bronze tint to the colouring is not considered a serious fault.
DILUTE ANDALUSIAN
Bib to be a light dun-grey with a dark dun lacing to the feathers, gradually becoming a more solid dun-grey on the head. Flights and tail to be a light dun-grey with dark dun quills. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
INDIGO
A light greyish blue colour darkening towards the head. Flights and tail bar to be a darker shade with a tail showing no tail bar. Beak, ceres and toenails black.
DILUTE INDIGO
A light greyish silver darkening towards the head. Flights and tail to be a darker shade with the tail showing no tail bar. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.
LAVENDER
A pale lilac grey colour, even in shade throughout. Beak, ceres and toenails dark horn.

FAULTS
Every aspect of a Nun that is not conforming with the standard of perfection is classed as a fault. It is left to the judges discretion as to the severity of each fault, points awarded and consequently the placing of a bird in its class.

SERIOUS FAULTS
More than 13mm (½”) larger or 13mm (½”) smaller in size, crouched stance, narrow chest, crooked keel, shell set too low on the head, small shell, split at the back of the shell, weak sides to the shell, narrow head, down faced, poor rise to the forehead, beetle brows ( eyebrows ), narrow weak neck, eye not over the ball of the foot, poor beak setting, beak longer than 13mm (½”), stained beak, gravelled eyes, crossed flights, small bib, bib extending round the back of the neck, rough or coarse feathering, sootiness or uneven colour, coloured feathers in the white portion and visa versa, blue tail except blues, white lining to shell ( white head feathers in front of the shell ) and poor trimming.

DISQUALIFICATION FAULTS
Shell capping head, rosettes, slip flighting, less than 7x7 or more than 13x13 coloured flights, White feathers behind the eyes, bull, broken or odd eyes, spindle or deformed beak, sick or out of condition birds, pinholes or lice, excessive trimming, starching or ironing of the shell, exhibiting borrowed birds or any other fraudulent practice, missing flight or tail feathers, more than 12 tail feathers, dropping wing or flights and trimmed feathers cut in half.

ORDER OF EVALUATION
Overall breed type, Shell Crest, Markings, Head, Colour.
RING SIZE
8mm ( “B” ring UK )
YEAR OF PUBLICATION
1989 For the British Nun Club. Re-formatted to the EE- standard model in 2012.
GROUP

Tumblers / Highflyers
TABLE OF POINTS IN JUDGING NUNS

Shell

Height 6

Breadth 6

Shape 6

Thickness 6

Head

Shape 9

Beak and Wattle 6

Eye and Cere 6

Body

Size and Shape 8

Station 8

Feathering and Condition 4

Bib

Depth 7

Width 7

Flights 7 x 7 13 x 13 1

7 x 8 13 x 12 2

7 x 9 13 x 11 3

7 x 10 13 x 10 4

8 x 8 12 x 12 5

8 x 9 12 x 11 6

8 x 10 12 x 10 7

9 x 9 11 x 11 8

9 x 10 11 x 10 9

10 x 10 11

Colour

Total - 100