For a bit of fun.

[Trev]

Don't think anyone likes number 4

To be honest, i do like the 4 birds eyes. It reminds me of the old Sion family. I had birds from the Hietzman family from Kentucky. Really strong birds that were brave to get home.
https://www.heitzmansions.com/

Interesting that you say about the sions. It looks from the photos that you posted that he must keep the blues separate from the reds as there isn’t any blue chequers. I remember the sions that dad had from Stan Guppy back in the sixties. These were mainly red grizzles. They were good distance pigeons and dad won what was then a very strong London and South Coast combine race from Bergerac 414mls with a red grizzle hen. I think this was in 1970. Correct me if I’m wrong Trev. The photo of her is in the study at mum’s. I think she was named the loner. From what I can remember she went missing from our old house as a youngster. She was missing all winter and turned up at our new address, but the same loft, about half a mile away, the following spring.

Not sure what year it was Andy, I'll get a photo of the picture next time I'm round Mums . She was a lovely pigeon who lived well into her teens.

[Trev]

To be honest, i do like the 4 birds eyes. It reminds me of the old Sion family. I had birds from the Hietzman family from Kentucky. Really strong birds that were brave to get home.
https://www.heitzmansions.com/

Interesting that you say about the sions. It looks from the photos that you posted that he must keep the blues separate from the reds as there isn’t any blue chequers. I remember the sions that dad had from Stan Guppy back in the sixties. These were mainly red grizzles. They were good distance pigeons and dad won what was then a very strong London and South Coast combine race from Bergerac 414mls with a red grizzle hen. I think this was in 1970. Correct me if I’m wrong Trev. The photo of her is in the study at mum’s. I think she was named the loner. From what I can remember she went missing from our old house as a youngster. She was missing all winter and turned up at our new address, but the same loft, about half a mile away, the following spring.

Andy my sions where from a very good distance flyer, I got 2 pairs off him a white/ red sadle back and red grizzels. Very strong birds they were, i started working out of town so gave them back to him.

They were great pigeons the Sion's and won from 50 to 500 miles. Dad started crossing them in with Cattrysse before adding the Bussheaerts.

[Trev]

It would be good to do this sort of thing and then post what the birds actually are and what they have actually achieved/produced. Its generally easy to assume that these must be eyes from decent pigeons otherwise they wouldn't be posted anywhere !!
As has been said before "you'll never see a good pigeon with a bad eye but you'll see plenty of bad pigeons with good eyes"

[Devo1956]

Thanks members for taking part in this topic, some great points made.

[George and Morgan]

Dev did it show the whole bird of eye 4

[Devo1956]

Dev did it show the whole bird of eye 4

No George, just the eye, and no information about the bird. Myself thought it was a good strong breeding eye.

[Devo1956]

A bit of a write up on birds eyes.
Sprinting Eyes 
Most all race winning sprinters have one common denominator in their eyes; the iris, but more specifically the iris color. 99% of the winning sprinters eyes are  all a very bright, intense, fiery red. The color circle of a sprinting eye is best if they are clean-cut with no dust or lines and should have good width with strong depth of color. This color circle paired with the intense, fiery red iris makes for a strong sprinting eye. 

Middle and Long-Distance Pigeon Eyes 
Middle and long-distance racing pigeons are birds that win from distances between 300 to 700 miles/1120 km. In these birds the eye coloration tends to be very rich as if to jump out at you.

These long-distance eyes also don’t need to be as clearly defined as the sprinters eyes. These eye colors and circles tend to blend together and they come in all colors and shades. You will also find a lot of long distance eyes which contain dust especially in the iris. 

Breeding Eyes of Pigeons
This is where eye sign plays a most important role in the breeding selection. We will start with the iris the breeders must carry the strongest iris of all with the deepest color possible. No matter what shade it is, depth of color is the most important quality here.

Most Good breeder’s eyes also contain metallic qualities in the coloration of the eye and should seem to almost sparkle when you look at them. Now within the circle of adaption we find a major element to a good breeding eye “the inner rings”.

Racing Pigeon Eyes
The more inner rings the better the breeding quality of the bird. The inner rings look like thin grey or black lines lying over the color circle. The inner rings should also be accompanied by a strong “mountain range” dark colored peaks and canyons throughout the iris and a good, rich outer circle being the same color as either the color circle or circle of adaption. 

Avoid These Pigeon Eyes For Selection
There are some racing pigeon eyes sign that are no good to us as fanciers. You should get rid of any pigeons that have over large or small pupils. The pupil should be proportionate to the rest of the eye. You should also cull pigeons with thin color circles and birds with thin circle of adaptions.

Pigeons with weak or dull iris pigmentation and pigeons with no outer circle at all are also eye qualities to avoid in your pigeons. Just by sticking to these parameters you should be able to improve your stock in a couple of breeding seasons. 

Article Summary – Racing Pigeon Eyes
There are a few key points to racing pigeon eyes that are very important to remember let’s take a look at a few of them, General, Success will not happen overnight, 

Do not base decisions solely on eye sign, eye sign is only a piece of the puzzle. 
Practice makes perfect. 
Use eye sign for breeding purposes first and racing purposes second.
Whatever the color might be the iris must always be strong, rich and deep and we must see a good number of peaks and canyons (mountain range) in the eye. 
The circle of adaption must always carry the breeding sign; the inner rings.
The metallic color circles are the best producers, but always look for the mauve/pink in the violet series of the eyes. 
Just like the breeding eye the iris of the racing eye must be rich, strong and deep. 
Look for wide color circles that run out well and meet up with the outer circles. 
Important Pigeon Eye Information
The fiery red iris makes for a strong sprinter while the liver red iris is more suitable for long tom extreme distances. Just remember the information here are only guidelines, do not set your heart on a pigeon just because they possess some of these qualities in the eye.

Racing Pigeon

A strong  racing pigeon must also have qualities in it such as good ancestry, strong body, size and shape, feather quality so on and so forth along with proper training, feeding and healthcare regimen.

It is the eye sign teamed up with all these other qualities that make for strong pigeons. It is also important to remember that you must be very  careful when reading the eye because some qualities can be easy to misinterpret, and you could end up getting it all wrong in the end, but if you practice and follow these simple guidelines it won’t be too long before you get the hang of it.

[George and Morgan]

strong body size and shape i like most don't like a long pigeon size i don't like large birds have few not raced any ybs from them

[Devo1956]

strong body size and shape i like most don't like a long pigeon size i don't like large birds have few not raced any ybs from them

George, i like a medium size pigeon, with a pear shaped body, and a very strong back. Selection is good but its maintaining the engine.

[George and Morgan]

i think good pigeons are getting smaller