The Tula Beetle Turmani
By
K.D. Spurling (2002)
The
Tula Beetle Turmani (Tulski Shuk) is one of the rarest and most obscure flying
pigeon breeds native to the Russian Federation. This breed is native to the city
of Tula and is closely related to the Smolensk Gratsch, which it resembles to a
great extent in color and form.
A
literal translation of the Russian name, "Tulski Shuk" (the latter
pronounced rather like the word "shook"),
is literally "Tula Beetle" in English, with this name (Shuk or
Beetle) reffering to this breed's intense black plumage and irredescent glossy
green sheen throughout which so resembles the coloration of many beetle species
throughout the world.
Older
fanciers state that this breed, although relatively little known outside of
Russia, has been cultivated in the city of Tula for at least the last four
centuries and that the breed presumeably arose through selective breeding of the
Smolensk Gratsch Turmani (translated literally as "Smolensk Crow" into
English) which was once extremely widespread in Western Russia. Where as the
fanciers of Smolensk had concentrated more upon the type, length and head and
beak structure of their pigeons, the Tula fanciers emphasized color hue and
sheen of this breed. As a result, the Tula Beetle is absolutely without any
doubt, the most refined black colored pigeon anywhere in the world so far as its
qualities of hue and sheen of plumage and in addittion, lacks the extreme length
and exxagerated head and beak qualities of the Gratsch. Although the Tula Beetle
is a member of the Turmani family, unlike other Turmani breeds, the color and
sheen is emphasized over length of back, wing and tail and is consequently a
shorter pigeon than other Turmani breeds.
In
addittion to its color and form, this breed is also an aerial pigeon and like
other Turmani, is a style flier opposed to a performer. Ideally, all Turmani
breeds are flown in kits of three birds from small boxes with the emphasis of
flight placed upon their ability to hover in place while flashing their tails
back and forth, in addittion to their ability to remain aloft for 4 to 8 hours.
Despite being an old breed, the Tula Beetle Turmani has never enjoyed any great fame or popularity in Russia. Even in the city of Tula this breed has always been far outnumbered by the Tula Startail (Tulski Turmani), the Tula Spot (Tulski Monach), theTula Tschegrassi and other local breeds and outside of Tula, this breed is only vaguely known in Russia. To make matters worse, the city of Tula suffered extremely during the Bolshevik Revolution and this breed was nearly thrust into extinction like so many others throughout the Russian expanse. Despite it's survival, the Tula Beetle has never truly recovered from the hard times of the Bolshevik spree nearly 90 years ago and is unknown by 99.99% of the fanciers outside the Russian Federation today. In fact, it is safe to assume that this is the first time the breed has been treated in other than the Russian language, let alone in the English language.
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