Fancy pigeons flaunt their feathers in this striking photo series

The bizarre, beautiful and, at times, almost comical diversity of “fancy pigeons” is captured here by photographer Luisa Maria Stagno.

The much maligned pigeons we all know, which are ubiquitous in cities around the world, are actually descended from escaped or released domesticated pigeons, which were in turn bred from the wild rock dove (Columba livia).

Today, pigeons have been selectively bred by humans to display a bewildering variety of shapes and colours, numbering as many as 1100 breeds. Even Charles Darwin was known to have bred the birds, and his On the Origin of Species makes numerous references to them.

Now, Stagno is on a mission to document the most unusual of their kind, entirely without favouritism. “I don’t have any favourite pigeon, because I find them all very beautiful,” she says. “I think each pigeon is unique.”

The names given to these breeds are often as fanciful as their appearance. Starting from the main image, from top, are a Franconian Trumpeter, with its wing-like sideburns, a Danish Suabian, a Jacobin, a Gimpel or Archangel and an Old Dutch Capuchine.