What to Look for in a Correct American Serama
Here is a diagram of what to look for in a correct American Serama. This is a photo of Bruiser, an American Blue Serama. Traditional Serama have the exact same body type, with the only difference being color. An American Serama is one of 6 accepted colors in the American Bantam Association and 1 of those colors is accepted in the American Poultry Association. This particular boy was a multiple time champion and also placed Grand Champion at the 2023 SCNA Nationals over 151 other Serama as well as Champion male in the American Bantam Association in the in cage show, so he is indeed a good candidate to use as a guideline.
Serama are very upright, vertical birds. The blue line shows how the eye, the wing and the leg should line up when the bird is in pose. Bruiser doesn’t have his head pulled back quite as much as he could so his eye is in front of that line.
The red line shows where the front of tail should be. There is no space between his back and his tail as it should be. If the tail angles too far back from that line it is a fault. If there is a V or U shape made between the tail and the neck it is a fault. If the tail leans forward of that line it’s called “squirrel tail” and is a disqualifying fault and should not be used for breeding.
The chest is high and round. His chest starts to come right under his wattles, rounds out and then tucks right back in.
With yellow arrow shows where the wing tips should end. You can see his toes but not his “ankles”. Shorter and the wings aren’t correct. Longer and they drag the ground. Some birds will tuck their wings vertically, even in a “pose”, if the wings are too long. If the wings are the correct length but they carry them above the “hocks” or the “knees” of the bird this is a major fault.
The orange circle shows a fault he had. This is called scissor wing. It’s where the primary feathers peek out from behind the secondary feathers. His wasn’t very bad but there are some that are pretty “severe”. It’s not a fault that has a point deduction but it could in the future. There are a couple of theories as to why that happens. One is environmental, not flying and strengthening the wings, another is genetic.
In a serious competition if there are two birds that are equally matched and one doesn’t have scissor wing while the other does the one without would be placed higher.