Kazakh SSR, the city of Semipalatinsk. Semipalatinsk shawl pigeons, and pigeons of the 70-80s. Historical data. In 1782, the fortress located on the bank of the Irtysh became the center of the Semipalatinsk district, which played an important role in trade with the East. Some merchants who shipped from Semipalatinsk reached Kashmir, Tibet, and India. There are known cases when goods from the Middle East were brought to Semipalatinsk for trade. Along with a variety of goods, many valuable breeds of pigeons were imported. This is how traditions developed. Mainly, stately ones were bred: white, black, red, yellow, speckled, black-tailed, yellow-tailed, red-tailed. Red-shawl and yellow-shawl stately ones were very popular and highly valued. Small in size with bright red or yellow coloring, a flat tail with a white ribbon raised above the wings, they were magnificent. The wings to the back are white, the same chin. These birds are low on the legs with small shaggy hair, a round head and black eyes. The pigeons were elegant in coloring, but weak in constitution. Much work in improving the constitution, or, as they say, the figure, was done after the Great Patriotic War. An invaluable role here belongs to one of the oldest pigeon breeders and an expert in his field, N. Ovsyannikov. By crossing shawl with stately Rostov he achieved a lot. The work was not easy. The exterior improved, the color of the plumage worsened, the purity of the color disappeared, and odd-eyedness appeared. And only painstaking selection work, selection from year to year of the best specimens allowed to obtain small, broad-chested, with large shaggy hair on low legs, with a wide flat vertically raised tail pigeons, which one cannot help but admire. They are now known and appreciated by many fanciers of our country. Well, many confuse Semipalatinsk and Altai. Semipalatinsk and Altai pigeon breeders are connected by a long-standing friendship, because both of them love, appreciate and breed their shawl pigeons. Semipalatinsk and Altai shawl pigeons are pigeons-brothers by blood, they have much in common, but there are also differences, and the roots are still the same. It cannot be said that some are better and others are worse. Although both of these pigeon breeders beat their chests with a fist, claiming that theirs are better. As they say, every snipe praises its own swamp. However, both breeds have magnificent specimens, and not so magnificent ones. In coloring, both breeds are absolutely identical, the only difference is in the tail structure. Semipalatinsk has flat tails, while Altai has oval tails. Semipalatinsk pigeon breeders consider this a defect, but Altai is the norm. Like Rostov and Borisoglebsk Chiliks: some are bare-legged, others have stockings. Semipalatinsk Shawl Pigeons The size of these pigeons is small, the body is shortened, as if compressed. The head is small, roundish, smooth or with a crest in the form of a wide ("from ear to ear") crown on the back of the head, its upper edge reaches the crown. The eyes are quite large, expressive, in the middle the iris is dark, the color of ripe cherries. The eyelids are wide, dark gray. The beak is of medium length and thickness, straight, pointed, tightly closed, light-waxy in color, with a slight bend in relation to the forehead line. The cere is small, elongated, light, smooth, fits well to the beak. The chin has a symmetrical, narrow white notch. The neck is short, of medium fullness, beautifully curved, thrown back, with a very large "shake", especially strong when excited. The chest is wide, convex, proudly raised. The back is very short, almost unnoticeable, the shorter the better. The wings are shortened, lowered down and touch the floor with their tips. The tail is short, raised up almost vertically, almost touching the head, rising above it by no more than 1-1.5 cm, consists of 14-18 tail feathers. They are flat, fanned out. The tail feathers are wide, tightly closed. The legs are short, the metatarsus and toes are light pink, the hairs are from 5 to 15 cm long, well collected, the claws are light. The plumage color is typical for shawl, magpie pattern. Colored varieties can be red-shawl, yellow-shawl, black-shawl. The head (except for the chin), neck, chest, top of the shields (shoulders) are colored in these colors. The wings, chin, abdomen and feathering of the legs are white. In smooth-headed and crested pigeons, there should be a section in the form of a triangle between the back and tail; if stately ribbon pigeons do not have such a triangle, they lose all symmetry of color. Stately ribbon, red-shawl and yellow-shawl pigeons have a wide, clearly defined white band in the tail. The entire plumage color is rich, bright, with a metallic sheen on the neck and upper chest. Acceptable faults: a full head with a flattened crown, a straight beak, small, inexpressive eyes, odd eyes, variegated feathering on the legs, a narrow and not bright enough ribbon in the tail, the top of the pigeon's body from the tail to the neck is completely colored.