An article about the public’s distaste for urban or city dwelling pigeons with an interesting suggestion to explain it. Read More
Category: History
MAPR Newsletter – January 1991
Here’s an an old newsletter from January 1991 published by the Massachusetts Association of Performing Rollers that was passed along by a fellow fancier. It’s a great piece of Birmingham Roller history. Give a look and feel free to comment. Enjoy. Read More
Birmingham Roller Origins
by Tom Monson; Copyright 2002
published with permission from author
Ancient Roller Origins
The ancient origins of the roller pigeon are shrouded in mystery and conjecture. The roller performs as it does because it has inherited a gene for rolling (the “ro” gene). No, this gene doesn’t make rollers perform perfectly. It causes them to exhibit a tumbling reflex. Certain suspected additive genes, proper type, physique, and a unique mental endowment are required before a pigeon can utilize the “ro” gene to perform like a true Birmingham Roller. No one knows just when the “ro” gene mutated to become a part of the pigeon genetic compendium, or whether it might have mutated in more than one pigeon on more than one originating occasion. Read More
Quotes & Pieces of Wisdom
There are shallow rollers, and there are deep rollers. You can’t breed two deep rollers or their young, their offspring, will roll all the way down, hit and die. Agent Starling is a deep roller, Barney. Let us hope one of her parents was not.
A Bit of Roller History – by Richard Espinoza
You gotta love roller history. I ran across an article in an old roller publicationwhich despite being short, is great. The piece looks to be written by Richard Espinoza about how Jaconette got his ‘start’. Here it is, along with a photo of the article page below. (see article here…)