Ablaq

The Ablaq (or Ablag) house — one of the foundation houses of the Egyptian Ghuzar pigeon, and among the most demanding to keep: its sub-houses are numerous and differ from one another in much detail, each house carries many points of standard, and careless crossing between houses has blurred them further. Keepers disagree over its origin in three camps, variously counting green, sokrota, hazel-shell, red, black and violet among the foundation colours. The pattern is white-bodied with coloured cheeks and shoulders, a white blaze (mesalla) down the centre of the head, and a raised forehead (qantara).