What is a tippler pigeon?
A tippler is a domestic pigeon bred in England in the 19th century for endurance flying. A kit of three or more birds is released at dawn and circles above its own loft for as long as it can, and the flight is timed. The longest flight on the Dutch tippler club’s international record list (opens in new tab) is 22 hours 5 minutes, flown by Harry Shannon’s old birds in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1995.
Tipplers are not racing pigeons. A racing pigeon is taken away and timed on the way home; a tippler kit stays over its own loft, so flyers compete without travelling. The birds come down when the owner puts out “droppers”, tame birds of another breed that show the kit where to land.
Where tipplers come from
Nobody knows for certain how the tippler was made. The usual account places it in north-west England in the 19th century. Wendell Levi’s book The Pigeon links it with Rainow and Macclesfield in East Cheshire, and cites an 1893 interview in which W. Jolly of Mill Green said he had bred tipplers for 56 years, which would take them back to at least 1837. Another account gives 1845, near Congleton and Macclesfield (both as summarised on Wikipedia (opens in new tab)).
A widely repeated theory is that the tippler came from crosses between the Cumulet, a white high-flying breed from France and Belgium, and highflyers or tumblers from India, and that selecting for long flights removed the tumbling. No breeding records survive to confirm it. Breeders aimed for a light “butterfly” wing action, which they believed helped endurance.
Early strains were named after the towns or the men who bred them. According to the Dutch club’s page on tippler types (opens in new tab), Joseph Hall’s birds were flown in the first competitions of the A.E.T.S., the forerunner of the National Tippler Union (NTU), in 1902, 1903 and 1904. The NTU itself was founded in 1912 (Tipplers.com (opens in new tab)).
Tippler types compared
Tippler “types” are family lines named after a breeder or a town. Most modern kits are crosses of these lines. The table below only includes what we could find in a named source; a blank cell means we did not find a reliable source for it.
| Type | Named after / origin | Colours described | Record flights by the line’s breeders | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macclesfield (“Maccs”) | The Macclesfield and Rainow area, East Cheshire | Levi, The Pigeon (via Wikipedia) | ||
| Manchester (Joe Hall type) | Joseph Hall; flown in the first A.E.T.S. competitions, 1902–1904 | NVC | ||
| Lovatt | Wilf Lovatt; birds exchanged with Albert Hartshorne | Many colours and markings, from yellow to black grizzle and blue | Wilf Lovatt flew a world record with this line (time not given) | NVC |
| Hughes | Gordon Hughes | NVC | ||
| Sheffield (red) | Sam Billingham’s birds; also called after Ken Brown and others | Red | Ken Brown: 19:10, young birds, 1986 | NVC |
| Irish blue (“Irish Delight”) | Harry Shannon and Hugh Coulter, Northern Ireland | Blue | Shannon: 22:05 old birds (1995), 19:40 young birds (1993). Coulter: 21:10 old birds (1992) | NVC |
| Boden | Jack Boden | Often silver, grizzle or print; some red | NVC | |
| Storey | Mr Storey of England; a Macclesfield-type strain taken to North America around 1927 | FTA history (CNTU archive) |
The Storey strain matters in North America: according to a history of the tippler in the US published by the CNTU (opens in new tab), the Reverend Graham of Canada imported a pair from Mr Storey around 1927, and the Flying Tippler Association of America adopted a picture of Storey’s bird “Westering Prince” as its emblem.
Flying tippler or show tippler?
The English Show Tippler is a separate exhibition breed. Its standard, published by the United Show Tippler Club (opens in new tab), says it was developed in Britain at the end of the 19th century from the flying (Macclesfield) tippler, with crosses to the Danish Tumbler for its bronze colouring. It is recognised in one colour, a rich chocolate brown with a mauve sheen, black flight tips and a black tail bar, and averages about 350 g. Show tipplers wearing rings meant for flying birds (such as NTU rings) are disqualified at shows.
Flying tipplers are judged in the air first, but flying-tippler shows exist too. In an article on the CNTU site (opens in new tab), UK judges said they look for a pearl eye, no feathered feet or crests, the right shape and good feathering, with colour and markings counting for less.
Tippler flight records
These are the record times listed by the Nederlandse Vliegtippler Club (NVC) for flights under international rules, and the North American records listed by the Canadian National Tippler Union (CNTU). Times are hours:minutes. As of 28 October 2026, when we last checked both lists, no newer times had been added to them.
International records: old birds
| Time | Flyer | Place | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:05 | Harry Shannon | Lisburn, Northern Ireland | 1995 |
| 21:21 | Eric Anslow | Tipton, England | 1994 |
| 21:10 | Hugh Coulter | Ulster, Northern Ireland | 1992 |
| 20:51 | Eric Anslow | Tipton, England | 1991 |
| 20:46 | George Pilot | Manchester, England | 1984 |
International records: young birds
| Time | Flyer | Place | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:29 | Karl Kocholl | Germany | 2004 |
| 20:01 | Piet van der Werf | Oosterbierum, Netherlands | 2002 |
| 19:55 | A. Mahutian | Harderwijk, Netherlands | 2001 |
| 19:40 | Harry Shannon | Lisburn, Northern Ireland | 1993 |
| 19:34 | Eddy Plester | Birmingham, England | 1990 |
| 19:10 | Ken Brown | Gladless, England | 1986 |
North American records
| Category | Time | Flyer | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old birds | 18:19 | Sikandar Bal | 2013 |
| Young birds | 16:45 | Nino Bugeja | 2005 |
| Young birds (US record, pre-arranged fly) | 16:35 | Bob Adams | 2003 |
Wikipedia’s tippler article also lists a 19:44 young-bird time by J. Fee (Belfast, 2023) and several later Shannon times. We could not find these on a club or NTU record list, so they are not in our tables. If you have the club record, please let us know and we will add it with its source.
How tipplers are trained
One of the best-known guides for beginners is E. W. Matthews’ “Thirty-Six Stages for the Flying Tippler Novice”, which Wikipedia cites to the NTU Yearbook of 1987. The full text is reproduced on the Dutch club’s site (opens in new tab). This is a short summary of his method, not our own:
- At five weeks old, the youngsters are moved to a loft of their own and later fed by hand.
- A dropper is introduced early, so the young birds link it with food and home. Matthews used a white cross-bred Fantail.
- The birds get used to their surroundings from a wire enclosure on the loft, and are first let out when their eye colour changes, at about eight weeks.
- The kit is released without the dropper, and the dropper is put out after 10 to 15 minutes. The time is then lengthened gradually, to two or three hours at first.
- For longer flights, condition is controlled through feeding. Matthews compares it to fuel in a car: a bird of about 10 oz (280 g) at release might weigh 6 to 7 oz (170 to 200 g) at the end of a long day.
- He starts with five birds of similar breeding, build and wing beat, so the best three can be picked as the competition kit.
Matthews also gives detailed feeding instructions, including barley for birds in training. These come from one flyer writing decades ago, so it is worth talking to an experienced local flyer, and to an avian vet about any health questions, before copying them.
Fanciers fly tipplers light, on measured food, so they stay up rather than come down to feed. An old account of Macclesfield tipplers (opens in new tab) describes keepers flying three cocks together for 11 or 12 hours in summer.
Droppers, the loft and hawks
Droppers are what bring a kit down. CNTU rules allow any breed other than a tippler to be used as a free dropper; a tippler can only be used as a dropper inside a wire pen. In an article on droppers (opens in new tab), a CNTU flyer explains that the number of droppers depends on the type of tippler and the loft, and that he uses eight. Fantails are a common choice (see our Indian Fantail guide).
Birds of prey are a real problem for tippler flyers, because a kit stays up for many hours. In an article on hawks and falcons (opens in new tab), Jake Sewall suggests flying small kits of three rather than large ones, keeping the birds in for about a week after a loss so a falcon moves on, varying your routine, and keeping spare birds in reserve. More on natural predators of pigeons.
Based on the sources above, a flyer starting out usually needs:
- a loft with a wire enclosure on top or at the side (Matthews)
- separate small coops for the training kit, so each bird can be fed on its own (Matthews used 14 x 14 in, about 36 x 36 cm)
- several droppers of another breed
- seamless rings from a tippler organisation, showing year, number and organisation, if you want to compete (CNTU rules)
- a timer or referee for competition flights
- lights at the loft if a kit may still be up after dark
Tipplers need regular flying to stay fit, so they suit people with the space and time to fly them more than people looking for a pet.
Competition rules
Each club has its own rules, and most are based on the NTU flying rules. Competitions are split into old birds and young birds. A young bird is one hatched in the current year that wears a seamless ring issued for that year; any other bird counts as an old bird. The first old-bird competition is usually in mid-April, with others at two-week intervals, and the main event is the “Long Day”, flown on the weekend closest to the longest day of the year (Wikipedia (opens in new tab)).
- A kit is 3 to 15 birds (CNTU rules (opens in new tab)).
- The kit can be released no earlier than one hour before sunrise, and no later than 10 am.
- A timer checks the ring numbers at release and again when the kit is trapped.
- Time stops when a bird drops without being called, when droppers are put out or when dropping lights are switched on. The flyer then has one hour to get the whole kit into the loft.
- A kit still flying at midnight counts as flying on the same day.
These points are from the Canadian rules. British, Dutch and American clubs use similar systems, but check your own club’s rule book.
Tippler clubs by country
We checked each link on 28 October 2026. Contact the club about buying birds, rings and competition.
| Country | Club | Link |
|---|---|---|
| UK | National Tippler Union of Great Britain (NTU) (opens in new tab) | Facebook group (as listed by Tipplers.com) |
| UK | All England Tippler Union (opens in new tab) | Facebook group (as listed by Tipplers.com) |
| USA | American Tippler Union (ATU) (opens in new tab) | Club website |
| USA | Flying Tippler Society of USA (FTS) (opens in new tab) | Club website |
| Canada | Canadian National Tippler Union (CNTU) (opens in new tab) | Club website |
| Netherlands | Nederlandse Vliegtippler Club (NVC) (opens in new tab) | Club website |
Tippler pigeon FAQ
What is a tippler pigeon?
A tippler is a domestic pigeon bred in England in the 19th century for endurance flying. Kits of three or more birds fly above their own loft for as long as possible, and the flight is timed.
How long can a tippler pigeon fly?
The longest flight on the Nederlandse Vliegtippler Club’s international list is 22 hours 5 minutes, by Harry Shannon’s old birds in 1995. The young-bird record on that list is 20 hours 29 minutes, by Karl Kocholl in Germany in 2004.
What is the difference between a flying tippler and a show tippler?
The flying tippler is bred and judged for time in the air. The English Show Tippler is a separate exhibition breed developed from it in the late 19th century, recognised in one colour: chocolate brown with a mauve sheen.
What is a kit of tipplers?
A kit is the group of birds flown together. Under CNTU rules a competition kit is 3 to 15 birds.
What are droppers?
Droppers are tame birds of another breed that the flyer puts out to bring the kit down. Fantails are often used.
Do tipplers make good pets?
They need an open loft and regular flying to stay fit, so they suit keepers who want to fly them more than people looking for a pet.
Sources and how we checked
We checked every record time against the Dutch club’s international list or the Canadian and American North American lists on 28 October 2026. Figures we could only find on Wikipedia or forums are left out or marked as such. If you have club records that correct anything here, please contact us.
- Nederlandse Vliegtippler Club: Internationale Records (Dutch) (opens in new tab)
- Nederlandse Vliegtippler Club: Types (Dutch) (opens in new tab)
- E. W. Matthews: Thirty-Six Stages for the Flying Tippler Novice (NVC) (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: North American records (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: Competition rules (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: Droppers (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: Dealing with Hawks and Falcons (Jake Sewall) (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: A Standard for the Flying Tippler (Davey Warrener) (opens in new tab)
- CNTU: Macclesfield tipplers (opens in new tab)
- Flying Tippler History in the U.S. and Flying Records (PDF) (opens in new tab)
- American Tippler Union: Fly records (opens in new tab)
- United Show Tippler Club: Breed standard (opens in new tab)
- Tipplers.com: A Bit of Old English Tippler History (opens in new tab)
- Wikipedia: Tippler (opens in new tab)
- Wendell Levi, The Pigeon (Levi Publishing, 1977), as cited by Wikipedia
Changelog, 28 October 2026: added the records tables and chart, types table, flying vs show tippler, training, droppers and hawks, rules, clubs and FAQ sections. Removed claims about Boden, Hughes and Sheffield flight times, and country records, that we could not trace to a source.
About the author
Dan, founder of Pigeonpedia. Dan started Pigeonpedia in January 2020. More about Pigeonpedia.
Last updated 28 October 2026 · Types