Türkiye's indigenous genetic resource: Muradiye Kelebek pigeon

The current study was carried out to determine the morphological characteristics of the Muradiye kelebek pigeon, which has been reared for many years by breeders in the Muradiye region. The ages of pigeons were classified into two groups: 12-24 months (age group I) and 25-36 months (age group II). The male pigeons had a significantly higher trunk length (P<0.001), head width (P<0.05), beak length (P<0.001), beak depth (P<0.05), thoracic perimeter (P<0.001), and tarsus diameter (P<0.001) compared to the female pigeons. The body weight (P<0.001), chest width (P<0.05), and thoracic perimeter (P<0.01) values of age group II were higher than those of age group I. It was determined that most of the pigeons were grayish blue-eyed (69.90%) and non-crested (76.72%). It was determined that the head structure of the Muradiye kelebek pigeon was similar to the Edremit kelebek, Muradiye donek, Bursa oynarı, Thrace roller, and Alabadem pigeon genotypes. The spotted plumage color of the Muradiye butterfly pigeon and the other three genotypes (jackal plumage in the Thrace roller, speckled plumage in the Edremit kelebek pigeon, and red/black galaca in the Muradiye donek pigeon) may be a common trait. Since these genotypes share some phenotypic characteristics, the phylogenetic relationships between the Muradiye butterfly pigeon and the other five pigeon genotypes (Edremit kelebek, Muradiye donek, Alabadem, Bursa oynarı, and Thrace roller) should be determined by molecular studies.