Ordinary person finds it difficult to understand the delight of the pigeon breeder at the fact that his bird rises to a height at which it is no longer visible to her with the naked eye. That is, the worse the pigeon breeder sees his bird in the sky, the better for him. But the fact remains: high-flying pigeons are valued precisely for their ability to ascend into the sky to great height. And in this capacity, the Sverdlovsk high-flying breed has gained great prestige among specialists far beyond the borders of the Urals and Siberia.
Historical information about the breed
Ancestors of this breed were gray-rippled pigeonsbred in Yekaterinburg at the beginning of the last century and distinguished by their high-flying qualities. Then, over these birds, the breeders of Sverdlovsk, who managed to breed several varieties of breed, distinguished by feather color, worked diligently. In 1981, the standards of this breed were finally established in Sverdlovsk. 
External features
Although the color of the Sverdlovsk high-flying breed is diverse, other characteristics of the exterior of these birds are similar:
- body length - up to 37 cm;
- plumage - dense;
- head - oval and steep;
- eyes - light with a yellow or white iris and a dark pupil;
- eyelids - gray and narrow;
- beak - medium-sized, with a color ranging from black to dark gray, with a small, light and smooth ceres;
- neck - strong, short length;
- chest - rounded;
- back - smooth;
- wings - tightly pressed to the body with the ends reaching to the tail;
- shields - speckled;
- tail - flat and narrow, having up to 14 tail feathers;
- legs - small, naked, red with claws of a dark shade.
Did you know? During World War I, pigeon photography was used to conduct aerial reconnaissance.
Color spectrum
Working on improving the Yekaterinburg high-flight, Sverdlovsk breeders brought several variants of this breed, differing in the color of feathers. 
The result was a bird in the form:
- black-necked;
- blue-eyed;
- brownish;
- completely gray, also called deaf.
Read also about the Nikolaev breed of high-flying pigeons.
This means that with white necks and pigeons' heads, their goiter is colored differently, and this color can go to the chest and abdomen, as well as to the tail and feathers from above and below it. For feathers characteristic white or variegated color. 
Flight performance
This breed of pigeons is able to fly high and long. Rising into the sky, high-flying birds quickly reach such a height that their naked eye can no longer be seen. In addition, they are able without rest to fly up to seven hours. At the same time, they are perfectly oriented in space and extremely rarely return to the pigeon house.
The group of flying pigeons also includes warriors: Armavir, Baku, Takla, Uzbek, Agaran, Kasan.
Conditions of detention
With all its unpretentiousness, the high-flying Sverdlovsk pigeons for a comfortable existence, which allows them to demonstrate their best qualities, need certain conditions of detention. 
To do this, built and equipped dovecotes, which are:
- attic;
- ground;
- pillar;
- suspended;
- tower;
- cellular.
Important! In order to avoid dampness, pigeon house should in no case be placed directly on the ground, therefore its floor should be raised at least a quarter of meter above the ground.
However, with all this difference in location, which can be judged by their names, pigeon houses must meet the requirements for all types of premises for this bird:
- The dovecote should be well ventilated and ventilated, but at the same time reliably protected from drafts, bright, with windows and access to the south side and quite spacious. For such mobile sports-type birds as Sverdlovsk high-flying birds, at least a cubic meter of space is required for each individual.
- Due to the temporary separation of males and females necessary in winter in the pigeon house, appropriate compartments should be provided, which are also required for the placement of the young.
- Inside the pigeon house it is necessary to equip the roost and nests. For perches use wooden slats with a thickness of about 3 centimeters, arranged horizontally. If they are installed in tiers, the top should be at a distance of at least 30 cm from the roof.
- And the nests, which are most often wooden or wire boxes, are installed in the steam boxes, of which, in fact, the inside of the pigeon house consists. They are arranged in tiers along the walls and are a kind of "flats" for each pair of pigeons. In order to turn the steaming box into a nesting box, it is simply necessary to separate it with a partition and insert a box into each part.
- A necessary attribute of pigeon equipment is a bath in which birds love to swim.
- Particular care should be taken with bedding in the form of coarse sand, peat or oak bark, which are evenly distributed on the floor of the pigeon house and then replaced at least twice a week with fresh ones.
- Although Sverdlovsk pigeons are quite cold-resistant, dovecote, nevertheless it is necessary to insulate with foam plastic or drywall to create a comfortable wintering conditions.
- Bird feeders must be available to all pigeon house inhabitants. In this case, different types of food is recommended to be placed in different compartments. For hygienic purposes, it is advisable to provide the opportunity to cover the feeders, as well as clean them as often as possible.
- For the drinker, the main conditions are its accessibility to all birds, as well as the impossibility of trash and litter entering it. In addition, it is imperative that the water splashed by pigeons does not soak the litter with moisture, for which a tray is installed under the trough.
- As for the outer part of the pigeon house, it should be brightly colored and have a form that would be remembered by pigeons and facilitate their return home.
- For sports pigeons, such as the Sverdlovsk high-flying ones, devices are installed that make it easy for birds to take off quickly and get comfortable. Usually it is a mast with a crosspiece at the top.
- Again, for sports doves, conditions are required for a walk. To this end, near the dovecote, an open-air cage is arranged with a feeding trough, a water bowl, a bathhouse, and a green mass reservoir. The area of the enclosure is usually at least 3 meters wide and 5 in length and is fenced with wire mesh.
Important! The light day in the dovecot should not be less than 14 hours, for which one should not only equip the windows and the exit on the south side, but also apply artificial lighting.
What to feed
The minimum portion of feed for one pigeon is 50 grams per day. After long flights and in the winter period, the portions increase markedly. Birds taken feed twice a day - in the mornings and evenings. The basis of their diet consists of cereals and legumes, as well as the seeds of some herbs in the form of:
- millet;
- millet;
- barley;
- pea;
- lentils;
- flax;
- sunflower;
- corn;
- wiki.
Potatoes, carrots and apples are also added to the pigeon’s diet. And a prerequisite for the normal digestion of birds are mineral supplementsconsisting of:
- red clay;
- sand;
- chalk;
- crushed red brick;
- small pebbles.
A mandatory ingredient in the diet of pigeons are vitamin supplements, which can be either in the form of green food, or as part of animal feed, or in the form of special preparations. Also experienced pigeon breeders to strengthen the immunity of birds recommend giving her broths of chamomile, succession and thyme.
After a high and long flight of the Sverdlovsk high-flying pigeons The following mixture is recommended for recuperation.:
- peas - 35%;
- barley - 20%;
- Vika, corn, oats, millet in equal parts - 40%;
- wheat - 5%.
Learn how to feed the little pigeon.
And to products that pigeons categorically should not be given, relate:
- Rye bread;
- meat;
- milk products.
White bread can be given to pigeons, but it is undesirable. 
Acceptable and Invalid Defects
The standards of the Sverdlovsk high-flying breed of pigeons clearly define the errors in the appearance of the bird, which are insignificant and permissible, as well as disadvantages that are unacceptable for this breed.
Did you know? Most of all among the birds were rewarded with the embodiment in the sculpture of chickens and pigeons. But if the chickens are famous for their purely culinary properties, then the monuments to pigeons installed in more than thirty cities around the world pay tribute to the heroic qualities of pigeons that people flew in time for help.
Tolerable deficiencies
The permissible errors include:
- a sloping forehead on a narrow head, forming a flat line with a beak, as well as an over-developed wax bulb;
- black beak, which differs in length from standards, being less than 15 mm or more than 18 mm;
- insufficiently developed chest;
- slightly feathered and widely spaced legs;
- feathers on the wings that reach the tip of the tail or, conversely, are noticeably shorter than the tail;
- slight variegation on the head;
- bright gap between the chest and abdomen;
- several white feathers on the belly and under the tail;
- asymmetrical coloration of colored feathers on the wing;
- the presence of more than two colors in the pen.
Impermissible faults
And among unacceptable errors in appearance and in flight qualities, because of which a pigeon is not allowed to be assessed at all, are called:
- red, dark and multi-colored eyes;
- the presence of a white feather in a colored tail;
- only white undertail;
- colored wings;
- the presence of white feathers on the color goiter;
- completely covered with feathers legs;
- all kinds of outgrowths, except the tuft on the head;
- crowded flight in the pack;
- somersaults during flight;
- squatting while flying to the tail.
Learn more about pigeons: life expectancy, sex differences, mating; what pigeon chicks look like; the strangest pigeons of the world; meat benefits and meat breeds.
Video: Sverdlovsk pigeons
If the pigeon breeder admires not bird flight, but how quickly his pet disappears from the eye down high, then this is the owner of the sports pigeon. He needs his ward, flawlessly looking externally, as soon as possible to fly to the sky and stay in the air as long as possible. Sverdlovsk high-flying breed of pigeons fully meets these requirements.
