Among the large number of pigeon varieties that have been bred over the centuries, the Scandaroon must count as one of the most unusual. Resembling more a fierce bird of prey than a peaceful granivorous bird, it is a striking looking pigeon with an upright habit, falcon-like appearance and having a pronounced curved beak. An early writer particularly emphasised this feature "the entire head and beak should be of a hooked character, the fact that the longer beak and the more bent and crooked and 'down-faced', the better in the eyes of the present-day experts". The colour of the bird ranges from self-coloured in red, yellow, black and white, also pied and silver. To-day, a few enthusiasts in the UK and the USA raise the breed as fancy birds while fanciers in Nuremburg, Germany have gained a special reputation in this field.
The Scandaroon belongs to the group known as Wattle pigeons which includes the Baghdad or Eastern Carrier, the renowned messenger bird of the Near East. This bird has very ancient origins and was once called the pigeon of Nebuchadnezzar. Centuries later, the English Carrier, known as the king of pigeons, was bred from it; also allied to it is the crooked-beaked bird, the Scandaroon. The English name Scandaroon was acquired in the eighteenth century when the bird was used as a messenger to carry information from the Syrian port of Aleppo to an English factory inland. A widespread tradition had already existed for the use of the birds in this way between the cities of Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo and Alexandria.
