The Fantail is a popular breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 of fancy pigeon. It is characterised by a fan-shaped tail composed of 30 to 40 feathers, abnormally more than most members of the pigeon family, which usually have 12 to 14 feathers. The breed is thought to have originated in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 or Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. There are several subvarieties, such as the English Fantail

English Fantail

The English Fantail is a highly developed breed of fancy pigeon. The Fantail, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the Rock Pigeon . The Fantail is said to have originated in India, but there are early references to it in Spain and China....

, the Indian Fantail

Indian Fantail

The Indian Fantail is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding. Indian Fantails, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons are all descendants from the Rock Pigeon ....

, and the Thai Fantail. Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

 used it as one of the examples in the first chapter of On The Origin Of Species.

There is a feather mutation called Silky that gives an interesting lace effect to a Fantails tail feathers. Fantails with this mutation are known as Silky or Lace Fantails.

Fantails are often used by pigeon flyers in the training of racing pigeons

Pigeon racing

Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained racing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance...

 and Tippler

Tippler

A Tippler is a breed of domestic pigeon bred to participate in endurance competitions. Flying results of up to 22 hours have been reported .-Origin:...

s. They are used as droppers in that they are placed on the loft landing board as a signal to the flying birds to come in and be fed.