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The Mental Aspect
By
Rick Schoening:
The genetic difference between a champion spinner and an average bird is really a big unknown. I think it might all come down to mental capacity. Some birds
are just smarter than others. Good health and nutrition during childhood, with quality peer groups can make a difference to some degree. These birds have to be run through the training rigors in order for the genes to fully express themselves. I always try to explain to people who want to know if I train my birds to roll. I tell them it’s like a bird dog. He has the hunting ability package bred into him. As a puppy if he is just tied up in the backyard or left in the kennel, he’ll never be worth a crap. BUT, run the pup through a good regimented obedience training and daily exercise, and the genes will be expressed like they were meant to be. I really believe that many genes will be suppressed if the birds aren’t in keen mental and physical condition. I can, through feeding and training prep, actually get the bulk of my kit birds to increase their velocity of the spin. Usually one notch faster on the Davis scale. I can’t hold them there for too long. Now granted these birds are not machines and some trick won’t work every time or on every bird, but the fact it does work on the majority, tells me that there is some validity to bringing out the roll by physical conditioning. People always bring up what WHP said with regards, to us manipulating the control over the roll. He is right on the money there. If you are flying
high quality stock, that you know have the goods in them, then you are dealing with a control issue. Guys just starting with multiple lines of lower quality birds can’t appreciate this. Hell, they are just trying figure out if they have good rollers or not. Mental capacity I feel, is where it is all at with regards to champion performers. Most quality stock has the same body types. It’s the mental capacity that determines whether or not a bird can push the hypcelerity envelope. That’s why selecting stock is so critical. The look in the eye,
the expression or whatever you want to call it has to be there in a stock bird or you won’t be too happy with the progeny. Racing homers have all of these characteristics. Does that make them good rollers? No, but animals that are bred to reproduce PERFORMANCE characteristics, must have excellent mental capacity. Breeding for a purely external physical feature, doesn’t require a superior brain to do it. He just has to have that particular feature. Like color and muffs etc: Experience is the only way I think, for a fancier to really be able to grasp this concept. Several of the old time roller men I met in the UK answer many of my questions with”experience will show you why”. They hardly ever told me a scientific reason for anything.” That’s the way the old Black Country
fanciers have done it”, was another common answer. There are no short cuts
to lasting success in this hobby. New comers to the hobby that try to breed for an old bird team (for competition) as their main goal are delaying or preventing the creation of
a family they can be proud of. You have to create your own line of birds FIRST, only then you can chance stock candidates to an old bird team. You get a good one, stock that bugger before a damn falcon eats it or you fly it away. You must move your family forward every generation. The best a newcomer can hope for is to be competing with 8-14 month old birds in the spring. Established fanciers, like Monty and Jay Starley, just as an example, owe their success in competition to the old bird team. This didn’t
happen over night. These guys stocked their best birds for years before
chancing them for competition.
Rs/2005
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STARTING OUT
by Glenn Eason
These words are my thoughts on starting out and acquiring birds for the novice. My hope is that everyone who reads this will get something out it, including myself. For the true beginner you need to know what you want. Visit as many lofts as you can, go on as many flies (flying competitions) as you can. Check out everyone's setup and birds. Ask a lot of questions. And have a lot of patience's, for it takes years to become a good breeder and flyer of Birmingham Rollers. I also recommend that you read a book called "The Birmingham Roller" by William H. Pensom. This book is a hard read, there is a lot of information being given out and it will take some time to really understand what the man is saying.
You will need to make a decision on your loft and kit cages. These decisions will depend on the space available to you and what part of the country you live in.
The next decision you have to make is the birds, hopefully you have been able to visit as many lofts as possible, gone on the flies and check out as many birds as possible. This will be the hardest part of just starting out and that is acquiring the best birds you can. What type of bird you start out with is dependent on what and whom you know and if you really know what you want. Do you want to breed and fly your own kit or buy a couple of young kits and fly them out or buy and older kit and pull you stock birds from the kit and mate them up. If you buy a young kit you can settle them and fly them out approx: 1 to 3 years of flying, or you can lock them down and not fly them at all and mate them up when they are old enough to mate. In either case you will need the assistance of the person who bred them to help you mate them. You can buy an older kit that has been flown for a couple of years and pull your stock birds form this kit and mate them up, again with the assistance of the person who bred them. An advantage to doing it this way is that you have seen the birds fly and you know what they can do they and are somewhat proven. Now you have to prove them in the stock loft. And if things are not working out the way you think they should you can ask for help and guidance in how to remate them or adjust your flying technique. You can also buy proven stock birds (very hard sometimes and expensive) if available. Again the person who bred them should mate these birds up. Personally I would try to get a few stock birds and pick out a few kit birds to mate up about 4 to 6 pair of breeders. Breed these birds......FLY AND CULL HARD. Keep good records and notes on all the kit birds both their good and bad habits. The main thing is to have patience, without it you will never be satisfied. It will be hard to get a fanciers best birds, but if he sees you are willing to work with the birds, you can most likely can get a few real good one's to breed from and improve what you have. So far as flying goes there is one thing that will ruin everyone's day are the "Flying Sharks". Every part of the country has them and you most likely will have to stop flying in the winter during migration season. Here in Los Angeles it is very bad but may be this will be a better year. So if you start out with the best you can afford and work with them, and again with patience and keen observation you will have success in breeding and flying the Birmingham Roller. Please join your local and national clubs and check out as many birds and lofts as you can. When you see what you like, visit this fancier as often as you can and see his birds fly. Ask a lot questions and pick his brain for as much information as you can. One thing that I would not do is get birds from every one. If you go this route you will have a lot in inconstancies in your birds and you will be frustrated. Do not over crowd your loft and fly as much as you can. Another way to get a few good birds is to ask for the eggs the fancier is going to throw away when he breaks up is birds. If you are still breeding when he breaks up and the timing is right you can raise a few good one's off his best stock birds. Again I stress patience and keen observation. Another note there are a lot of feather merchants out there. So please see them fly before you put up your hard earned money. Below are some books you can read on the Birmingham Roller.
"The Birmingham Roller" by William H. Pensom
"The Collected Writings of William H. Pensom" by Tom Monson
"Rollers and All About Them" by E.R.B. Chapman
"Acrobats In The Air" by James Graham
"The Aerial Performance of The Birmingham Roller" by Cornell L. Norwood
"Winners with Spinners" by Graham Dexter
"True Spinning Rollers" by David Kowalski
"Last of the Greats" by Tom Hatcher
"The Birmingham Roller Pigeon" by William H. Pensom and Others
Some of these are out of print and some are readily available. All have something to contribute and there is a lot of contradiction in them but worth reading. I hope that I didn't bore anyone and I will add to it in another article............Glenn 3/25/02
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THE BIRIMINGHAM ROLLER - An Endangered Species By Cornell L. Norwood
In this article I will attempt to explore one of the main causes responsible for the general diminishing performance of the Birmingham Roller. I am sure there are those who will vigorously disagree with my opinions, but it is my sincere hope that everyone who reads this endeavor will derive some measurable value from it.
I feel all breeds of pigeons were originally developed with one basic concept in mind. Whether that concept be show, flying ability or performance of some kind, the breeders of any particular strain follows its basic concept and strives to improve, perpetuate and achieve perfection in his birds. But it would seem the Birmingham is unique in this respect. It is one of the very few species that has as it main attribute what is in fact a major physical fault. The late Bill Pensom, a foremost authority on these birds once wrote " The Birmingham Roller performs a series of undetached somersaults at incredible velocity always in a true line of decent." In essence it was bred to do exactly what the name implies, roll.
However, relatively early in its development this roller took on another aspect, the show pen, an over the years there was almost a silent split among the breeders forming two separate factions. One committed to raising an aerial performer and the other rearing youngsters ultimately destined for the show pen. After both have compiled extensive experience and significant progress toward their respective ideals, the end result became apparent. Two separate pigeons emerged with distinct differences. The performer virtually ruling the skies while his counterpart has laid claim to the auditorium. Separate but equal if you will, in their own right. While two variations of the same species is not uncommon, the danger lies in their merger. Surely then we would witness to the demise of the true Birmingham Roller described earlier by Bill Pensom. I will endeavor to explain why.
In this particular case I feel kit competition is playing a large part in this detrimental movement. If properly conducted it can be very beneficial to the performing Roller. However, the standard rules make this activity extremely venerable to having an adverse effect. When the interest in competition becomes as keen as today, the original concept of the true Birmingham gives way to that of the common Tumbler. In order to score points or "turns" , ones kit need only to perform in whole or part simultaneously. With no consideration
given towards style, depth or an individuals ability to perform. This practice in itself not only allows but demands the poor Roller or tumbler be utilized. And for these reasons: the more turns made by kit during the 20 minutes required for the competition fly, the more total points scored. Therefore it becomes advantageous to produce a shallow kit of performers. The shallow Roller expends nominal energy when he performs allowing him to repeat this this feat at frequent intervals without risking exhaustion. Another problem that has swung from the competition fly is over training or allowing an overabundance of liberty. A very effective way to reduce the depth a bird may spin. Various physical changes are also being undergone as a result of these techniques. The Birmingham is taking on an unprecedented size & wealth of feather. This allows him to transcend the discrepancies between the air and the show pen. I am not by any means saying there are no true Birmingham's remaining. On the contrary there are some fine youngsters being produced yearly. But this type of bird is becoming more & more difficult to locate with their breeders being alienated by the attention afforded the competition and the show pen. We may easily bear witness to aerial wizard vanishing at an alarming rate.
Some years ago most major clubs had a built in system of safeguards against what is taking place today. But as the leadership changed hands the new officers failed to recognize these preventive measures for what they were. Consequently they were eliminated. But what I feel was probably the most effective of these measures was the annual club champion award. Designated to the individual bird every year who excelled over all others in his ability to perform in accorandance with the original concept. A runner -up and third place trophy would round this activity off well. Making this award one to coveted and received with a sense of pride and accomplishment. When bestowed, it could go a long way to restoring a semblance of balance to the world of the Birmingham Roller.
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KIT COMPETITION MUST CHANGE by PAUL GOMEZ
Bill Pensom wrote many, many years ago, I think it was in the Twenties, that kit competition was undoing the Birmingham Roller. The rules are such, that the superior roller is penalized because it is not an ideal kit bird. Everyone knows that the deep rolling pigeon simply does not fit into kit competition. However, most roller breeders would agree that the most memorable birds they have seen are those which rolled deep, when the quality and speed of roll was also part of the package. In fact, if one thinks about it, birds in kit competition are rewarded mainly for rolling in unison rather than for quality of roll. It cannot even be said that they are judged for quantity rather than quality, because they aren't really being equitably judged for the number of birds actually rolling.
Beginning on page 119 of Pensoms book he stated: "The more turns a kit of tumblers will do, the less valuable they are as individual performers. The better the turn, the better the individual birds.?
"Incidentally, the deep roller is at a greater disadvantage in a flying competition than the short worker or tumbler, and for this reason the best breeders of rolling pigeons lost all interest in flying competitions....."
"It is to be regretted that flying competitions under these rules tend to destroy the better quality performing tumbler. I believe that pigeons should be given prizes for individual merit."
Kit competition as it exists gives its maximum reward to the kit which performs a full turn, as if this was the do all and end all of the Birmingham Roller. If this is to be the goal of the roller breeder, then a different kind of bird must be produced which will fare well in these contests. I believe that the emphasis has been placed on producing this kind of roller in too many lofts for far too long, and that the bird which is referred to as the "champion" is far more scarce than in the old days when that term originated.
For this reason I personally have no interest in kit competition as it is now structured, and would like to see it revised.
I would like to see a system, which accurately rewarded the amount, as well as the quality of roll in a contest. Let me explain....
If a kit is scored twenty points for a full turn, then each bird is receiving a full point for its roll, regardless of depth, speed or style. On the other hand, if a kit is scored only a single point for a quarter turn, then each bird is receiving only from 1/5th to 1/9th of a point for it's roll, again regardless of quality! So under this system the birds will receive from five to nine times the score for a roll although it may very well be of inferior quality. Therefore the way to correct this injustice would have to be, in my opinion, to reward each bird that performs to a certain standard the same point value regardless of how many happen to be rolling. This way if nine birds were to roll at the same time they would be scored nine points rather than only one.
Furthermore, the birds which most closely approach the ideal should be scored higher for the superiority of their performance. The same criteria should be used to evaluate the kit as a whole as would be used to evaluate a single bird in individual competition.
I know that there are many other roller breeders out there who believe as I do, that if a system of judging rewards inferior qualities and penalizes superior qualities, that system of judging is inferior and must be changed to improve the hobby.
Questioning the status quo may not be a popular thing to do, since many rollermen and women are satisfied with things the way they are, but I am willing to stick my neck out if it will serve to benefit the hobby. This change should have been made many years ago when Bill Pensom was still around and could have seen it. I for one humbly consider myself to be one of his many "disciples", and I wish to honor his memory by following his advice in this matter.
---Paul M. Gomez---
----April 1995---
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"OVER-FLYS" by Tom Monson
Homers were bred for their homing ability. Over the generations,
this ability has been enhanced through the "survival of the fittest"
and man-imposed selection. Rollers and other breeds have been selected
for something other than homing, so they haven't progressed in homing
ability as well as racing homers have.
2. One evidence of strong homing "instinct" in racers is that their
brains have something like 20% greater weight and mass in proportion to
their body weight viz-a-viz other pigeon breeds. (It wouldn't surprise
me if they found that some modern show rollers little more than a brain
stem.) Homers also have been found to have more magnetite in their
heads than other pigeon breeds. Homing results from a combination of
magnetic compass-like direction finding, and location-positioning by
the sun. Homers are just flat-out better at homing than other breeds.
3. That doesn't mean other breeds have NO homing ability. Most flying
breeds have pretty decent homing capacity. There are lots of stories
about rollers making it home from considerable distances. Paul Bradford
of Salt Lake City had a hen 25 years ago that he gave to Todd Jensen.
Todd bred from her for a year, then gave her to his brother in Brigham
City, Utah, some 60-70 miles from Paul's loft. She got out from the
brother's loft and made her way back to Paul's loft a couple of days
later.
4. Some pigeons, homers or rollers, have more "intelligence" than
others. A stupid pigeon with fair homing instinct can't make it home
because he's too stupid to tap into his homing ability. An intelligent
pigeon with modest homing instinct will be able to make the most of
that instinct and return home more predictably than the stupid one with
more natural homing ability.
5. It's not fair to criticize rollers who get lost on overflies as
having poor homing ability. To explain this, we need to look at homers
for guidance. This will get complicated, but here goes.
In homers, we have short-distance sprinters (under 200 miles),
medium-distance birds (200-400 miles), long-distance racers (400-600
miles), and a very few extreme-distance, marathon homers (600-1000
miles). They all have homing instinct, but the sprinters are
heavy-bodied, muscle-bound birds that can out-sprint the others. The
sprinters also are much more hyper and feisty in temperament. The
long-distance birds are longer-bodied, more streamlined, they have
longer wings, they are shallower-keeled, and they are much calmer of
temperament. They're like human marathon runners--noticeably more
slender, with less muscle mass, but much greater endurance than
100-yard dash sprinters. These long-distance homers usually can't keep
up with the sprinters, but when the sprinters go down from exhaustion
after 350 miles in bad weather and a head wind, these long-distance
birds will eventually catch up and fly over them, plugging along, like
the fabled tortoise passing the hare. They can fly all day, while the
sprinters will give it their all for four or five hours.
Marathon homers are another thing entirely. They are survivors. They
are built like the long-distance birds, but they are even slower. When
these birds were somewhat popular fifty years ago, they typically were
flown from an "open loft" where they were allowed to fly out whenever
they pleased. Often they were not watered in the loft, but had to fly
to a creek or river for water. They ate what was available in the loft,
but they also learned to eat weeds, seeds and insects from the fields.
On a 1,000 mile race, they had the instinct to go down when they became
tired, have a drink, find something to eat, then get up and keep on
plugging. They would return from 1,000 miles in three to ten days,
sometimes two days if they had a tail wind and cool temperatures. Their
homing instinct isn't necessarily better: they make it home because of
their determined, never-say-die character and their survival instincts.
6. If pure sprinters are entered in a tough 500-mile race, they usually
will give it their all for 300 miles or so, then they go down and die.
They die because they are dehydrated and their muscles are so bound up
with lactic acid that they simply can't fly any more. Many may join
commies or barn pigeons, and just give up on the idea or returning
home. When a homer is this exhausted, its brain no longer functions
properly, it is completely disoriented, and it cannot tap into the
homing instinct. So it just gives up.
7. Now back to rollers. There are many rollers that, if well-fed and
rested, can make it back from at least 10 to 15 miles. But these same
birds, if they go on an overfly, will fly so long that they are
completely exhausted and dehydrated, and their brains no longer serve
them. Like flown-down homers, their brains can't tap into their homing
instinct. They often will become so dehydrated that they need a few
days just to start thinking again. If they are lucky enough to come
down somewhere where they can find food and water, they may recover and
find their way home. If not, they can come down a mile from home and
never return because they either die or they survive long enough to
accustom themselves to their new surroundings and they decide to live
where they came down.
8. Many roller men have noticed that the workers often turn up missing
in an overfly, but the strong, stiff birds make it back. This is
because the strong, stiff birds are not as depleted as the frequent
workers. Additionally, some families of rollers have been bred and
maintained for generations "English Style," so that they are fed on the
ground outside the loft, and they have a somewhat better instinct for
knowing how to survive on their own, eating weeds, a few insects, and
some seeds on the ground. Bill Barrett, of Bromsgrove, Worchestershire,
managed his pigeons in this way. They were also the type of pigeon that
didn't need to be starved down in order to perform frequently, and were
always quite hardy. Not surprisingly, many fanciers have commented that
the Barretts have better "homing ability" than other rollers.
In my opinion, their homing ability was not necessarily better than
that of other roller strains. Instead, they were the type of somewhat
heavy, large, deeper-keeled pigeon that didn't get carried up into the
thermals as easily as the shallow-keeled rollers that are often starved
down to within an inch of their lives when flown, especially when being
prepped for competition. Therefore, the Barretts come down more easily
when caught up in thermals and, if they find themselves away from their
home district, they have the reserves and the survival instincts to
look after themselves for a day or two until they come to their senses,
tap into their homing instinct, and make their way home.
I felt like responding to your question because this morning my oldest
young bird kit went off into the wild blue yonder. We have fairly good
conditions for an overfly today: 87 degrees rising to 97 this
afternoon, relative humidity of only 13%, clear skies with ten miles
visibility, and barometric pressure of 30.15, wind only 3 mph. Since
the barometer is not terribly high, I expect they got themselves caught
up in the thermals and I'll get most of them back. Even though they
haven't flown more than an hour in their lives, only four of 34 were
down after an hour and a half when I left for work. The others were
nowhere to be seen. I just telephoned my wife, who told me there are
about twenty home now. These guys have been flying higher and higher
lately. They're in excellent physical condition--probably too good. So
now I'll hold them in for a week, and feed them lots of pellets to put
some weight on and take them down in condition just a little, in hopes
that they'll back off from this overfly-prone condition.
Tom Monson.
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A INTRESTING ARTLICE THAT PRETAINS TO HOMERS BUT CAN BE APPLIED TO ROLLERS....THINGS TO PONDER WHEN YOU ARE MATING UP .
HETEROSIS THE MAGIC BREEDING BULLET
By Helmut Herder (BSc.Honors Genetics)
Because of genetic load, the successful breeding of racing pigeons is a continuous process of elimination and searching. Searching for the best breeders. It?s like having a garden, if you don't eliminate the weeds, in the end there is nothing to harvest. Gardening also involves searching for the best seed varieties. The economic benefits of heterosis for mankind have been and still are enormous. The benefits have mainly been in the food production industries of agriculture. The steak dinner you had for supper last night, including all the vegetables, was indirectly a benefit of heterosis. Gardening and horticulture are also benefiting from heterosis.
So what is heterosis?
Heterosis is the genetic term for hybrid vigor. It is the result of cross breeding two different and distant related plants or animals of the same species. The offspring of such crosses are more vigorous and often more healthy and disease resistant. Why is this? There are many theories but the exact mechanism of heterosis is not entirely understood. Most of the genetic loci are in a heterozygous state and this somehow results in hybrid vigor. There has been some population genetic studies done that indicate even in the wild, nature favors heterosis, probably because it leads to greater genetic variation.
OUT CROSSING
There is no doubt about it, cross breeding is exciting and often produces thrilling results. It is also very frustrating because it leads to greater genetic variation in a breeding program. In my own loft it has been my experience over the years that the best racers that have been bred have been from outcrosses and I think that the majority of champion racers that are produced by other lofts are also due to cross breeding.
When people have discovered that I am a geneticist the question always comes up "I have (or had) a champion racer but I could never breed any birds as good as him, why was this not possible?" First of all it must be understood that the champion racer is a genetically unique individual: there are no others genetically identical to him. Many breeders make the mistake and assume that breeding is the business of reproducing exact copies of champions. This is a foolish notion because it can never be genetically accomplished. The fastest way to destroy the unique genetic composition of a champion racer is to embark on a harsh inbreeding program. This is like letting a bull loose in a china shop.
INBREEDING AND HETEROSIS
Inbreeding by definition is the breeding of closely related plants or animals. All of us who breed racing pigeons are practicing inbreeding because our birds have come into being only within the last 150 years. Close inbreeding, which I call harsh inbreeding, involves brother-sister, father-daughter, and son-mother matings. Even half brother and half sister matings are still harsh inbreeding.
Cousin and second cousin matings are more distant related matings and are the outer limit of what I call gentle inbreeding. In my opinion, there is no need to practice harsh inbreeding, and it is a disadvantage to do so for two reasons:
1) the loss of heterosis
2) the offspring will be no better than the parents from which they have been produced.
Harsh inbreeding leads to homozygous genetic loci. This is how recessive lethal and deleterious genes are expressed. Indiscriminate harsh inbreeding produces offspring that are generally weak, less disease resistant, runts and behaviorally stupid individuals. However, gentle inbreeding is often desirable and necessary. It is needed to fix certain desirable characteristics.
FIXING DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS
The most productive breeding strategy to breed champion pigeons are to:
1) outcross matings
2) produce a champion racer
3) embark on a gentle inbreeding program.
When you have a champion racer from an outcross mating, you have a genetically unique bird that has never existed before. There are gene combinations in that bird that do not exist in any other bird in the world. The trick is to pass some of those gene combinations on to as many offspring as possible. Very few, if any of the favorable gene combinations will be passed on to the offspring intact. However, if some of the genes that are responsible for making the bird a champion are dominant genes, then some of the offspring from the champion, will also show signs of being superior racers. This sometimes happens if you are lucky.
Breed the champion to as many different mates as possible, while keeping only the best youngsters. Next let these youngsters mate to distant related mates. Keep only the best youngsters. These second generation youngsters then should be mated to cousins that have the champion in their pedigree. Hopefully, some of the gene combinations that made the champion a champion will combine in these cousin-to-cousin matings. If this happens, then desirable characteristics have been fixed in the resulting birds and a family based on the champion genes can be established through further gentle inbreeding.
SUMMARY
Many champion racing pigeons in the world are superior racers because of hybrid vigor. Hybrid vigor expresses itself in individuals as being more disease resistant, vigorous and intelligent. Cross breeding produces individuals that show hybrid vigor. Harsh inbreeding programs lead to a loss of heterosis. Gentle inbreeding is more desirable and is necessary to fix desirable characteristics. A family of superior racing pigeons can be established through a gentle inbreeding program. Champion racers are genetically unique and once they are gone, they are gone forever.
The End
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The Birmingham Roller By K.D. Spurling
It has now been a very long while since I have written upon the Birmingham Roller, but due to great requests, it is once again that I find myself writing about what I still know best, and that which I still hold most dear, none other than the true Birmingham Roller as I have come to know it over an excess of some twenty years of time. In this sense, it comes quickly, easily and exactly, for this is not but simple second nature, but exact first nature.
Being that a great period has now passed since I have written of the Birmingham breed, it should start afresh and with a beginning, for I feel it necessary to clarify the abilities and merits of the true Birmingham Roller as it has existed for an excess of some two centuries or more in time.
What Is A Birmingham Roller?
A Birmingham Roller is a pigeon of breathtaking and exquisite performance, turning over rapidly a succession of backward somersaults while descending toward earth in an unbroken sequence like a spinning ball. While long performances may be seen as the most spectacular, the true Birmingham Roller is not necessarily a deep performer, but rather one whose merits are measured and valued strictly upon the rapidity of its performance. Contrary to the popular misconception, the velocity or rapidity of the roll is not its rate of descent, but the rate at which each backward revolution is executed and the highest velocity pigeons execute the most revolutions in what is a shorter space than so others of greater depths, as well descending at a slower rate than their counterparts who are lacking in velocity. Many are the times I have heard of, as well as also having seen pigeons, which by the common terminology appear to ?accelerate? near the end of the roll, in that before completion they begin to drop with a much greater rate than their previous descent, and many are the pigeons who are valued for such, when in reality they are far less than perfect, due to the fact that in ending they have actually begun to perform far less vigorously as to the rate of each revolution. This occurs simply due to the so-called ?blur factor?, which entails the fact that the higher the rate of each revolution, the slower the pigeon descends and the less it will roll in its depth. However, some rare examples of the true ?shrinking effect? can be seen in the highest caliber of families, when a particular top notch example seems to ?catch and hang? near the end of the roll and the diameter of the face of the roll, which is nothing more than optical illusion of a pigeon in the full tuck position revolving backwards at an immense rate, thereby appearing as a small round ball, appears to shrink in its size. Although the pigeon itself is incapable of tucking in to a greater extent than its somewhat lesser examples, due to an even greater velocity, the illusion of an even smaller than normal ball-like form is viewed.
On viewing the roll from the front or rear view, opposed to from the side, it is relatively simple to grade the merits of any individual performer, in that what I consider to be a ?good? roller is one which will be seen dropping not only straight on a calm, windless day, but dropping with its wingtips in an upright position and looking like an initial ?H? and being completely free of any fine irregularities or wing changing at periodicals. I should say, that while such are not truly rare, they exist in some real numbers only in select lofts where the aspiration is to produce a family of only the highest velocity pigeons with little regard as to the idea of colors, markings or of performance in unison. I should also note, that a pigeon of this particular caliber could come as a pigeon who is capable of rolling any range of depths; from rolling at an immense velocity in one place and upwards to the neighborhood of some 50 or so feet. I will go so far as to say that while safe performances of 75, 100 and 125 feet and beyond are not only possible in breeds such as the North American Highflying Roller, Central Asiatic Roller, Oriental Roller, Sarajevo Roller, Slovak Roller and others in what can be deemed as ideal examples in those particular breeds, that such depths are an impossibility for a true high caliber Birmingham Roller, simply because the mentioned others have entirely different ideals and are far from similar to the Birmingham Roller in their requirements in that the same style of rolling is not aspired for and the styles of one should not be aspired for in the next. Extreme depths are viewed in these other breeds simply because their requirements are in no way similar to those of the Birmingham, and if the true Birmingham style, frequency and velocity were to ever be combined with that sort of depth, this extremely volatile combination will lead to a physical disaster of the worst sort.
The Ideal:
The Birmingham Roller is one of few animals under standardized domestication where in an ideal can be not only attained, but bred and viewed. Despite the fact that this ideal has been well understood for well over a century and has been described and also drawn for over 70 years in literature, many still remain scrambled largely due to either misunderstandings or outright ignorance.
The late Wm. Hyla Pensom wrote something that is very important and factual about this breed many years ago, in that he wrote that the individual performance of this breed cannot be improved upon, but that the modern fancier, and even the fanciers of his time, can only strive to produce a higher percentage of the best as they progress from year to year. This is very distressing to the majority, in that most believe themselves to be such great breeders that they have somehow improved upon the individual capacities of this breed and every mother?s son seems to believe that he is some sort of mystical messiah who if followed can lead all to the promised land of the true Birmingham Roller. A number of the pathetic believers, and unfortunately, their numbers are legion, even insist that the late Wm. H. Pensom intentionally misled scores of fanciers for his own personal gain, yet none before, nor since Bill Pensom has had the same sort of positive impact on the Birmingham breed, and this remains true even after more than 30 years after the death of Pensom. I submit that elbowing a dead man out of the way to enter the spotlight is not only a cheap shot, but also the practice of a true heathen. Not so strangely, when one comes to the point of being able to interpret fully, the message Pensom was trying to get across, his ideas begin to work for you, opposed to against you. One of the greatest reasons that many fail to understand the gospel of Pensom has much to do with Pensom himself. In the first place, he was a true writer of the English language in that he was British and also in that his writing was very much of a Victorian style, in that it was far more suited for use in the day of his grandfather and would have been considered old fashioned even in Pensom? s earliest years. Consequently, minus some sort of schooling in literature, Pensom? s doctrine is more than difficult to fully understand. Luckily, the late Howard McCulley did an excellent job in putting the same doctrine to paper in what was not only a precise, cut and dry style, but often in one that was nearly assaultingly abusive at times to get the idea across to the American fancier.
The ideal Birmingham Roller is a pigeon, which turns over backwards with
inconceivable rapidity while descending towards earth like a spinning ball
and when
Viewed from the side, a small ?hole? will be seen. This standard is so simple
and contained in so few words that it should be never lost sight of, yet it
has unfortunately
been by far too many. Many are those who become very excited by the presence
of a small gap or a bit of daylight slightly off center in the side of the roll, when the quality of such a performer is dramatically waning. Despite the fact that the insane believers of ?more and better Rollers? than in the old days use these pathetically imperfect examples as ?proof? that the small hole is an outdated model, the space and bit of daylight IS NOT the small hole or any ideal. One thing is true, and this is the fact that if these birds who show gaps on the face of the roll were the true hole types, those who view the concept as outdated would be truly correct. Even though these examples are mistaken as the hole, at least most are in agreement that those who show gaps or a bit of distorted daylight on the face of the roll are examples of aerial trash.
The fact still remains, the true ideal remains very rare and many may never view it, let alone produce it. The fact is, the small and perfectly rounded hole placed in the center of the face of the roll, is an optical illusion created by a perfectly balanced (perfectly typed) pigeon passing through a correct roll. With this in mind, once a fancier can grasp an understanding of true rolling and perfect rolling type, a higher percentage of the ideal can be produced.
In fact, no matter how scrambled their ideas are of what constitutes perfect type may be, nearly all roller fanciers maintain an interest in type, feather and expression.
Roughly ten years ago, the Performing Roller Association, due largely to my mentor in Rollers, Dan J. Ouellette, drew up an aerial ideal for the Birmingham Roller which today appears in the ?NPA Encyclopedia Of Pigeon Standards?. Going back to its formation in 1985, our organization received a great deal of flak because we endorsed the idea of displaying aerially tested performers in the show coop for educational and promotional purposes. Fifteen years later, the idea is now widely accepted and practiced, not only in North America and for only Birmingham Rollers, but also worldwide for many flying breeds. To this day, the basic ideal also receives great flak, largely from exhibition fanciers, over the fact that this standard states that there can be no conformation standard for a flying breed as the good ones occur in many body types. While this is more than true, it is also somewhat misleading.
It would be true that good rollers can come in an array of body types,
colors, markings,
expressional types and feather types. This is due simply because the purebred
Birmingham Roller, when flown under the correct methods, has no choice but to
roll at some point in its life, although many may appear to be non performers due to a greater genetic resistance to the roll and may not develop into the roll for two, three or even up to five years of age. As well, Birmingham Rollers come in an array of body types due simply to breeding preference and variation and as a result, good rollers occur in many different types, yet the ideal comes in ONLY one particular type due simply to the physical mechanics of the ?hole? in the side.
I spent thousands of hours around Dan Ouellette, and be aware, we discussed type, expression, feather and colors on a regular basis. It was always made quite clear that he knew that an ideal type was necessary to yield the ideal and he understood this type to an exact degree. In fact, on one occasion, he presented me with a Red Checker Self squeaker from an untested pair and he said: ?He is the ideal type. If he can roll correctly, he will show the hole.? and after taking the bird home and flying him hard for 15 months, he did in fact exhibit the hole and he was dead fast for 5-10 feet and about once or twice per minute. So despite what he had written, he knew that one type was properly suited for the ideal result and he knew how to produce that type.
However, as an intense student of Roller history, he also knew full well that it was impossible to issue the breed a conformation guide simply due to the fact that every time it had been done historically, it was quickly abused and misused by those who look for an easy way out, disrespect the breed and seek glory only through the collecting of cheap hunks of plastic people call ?trophies?, when in reality, it is the quality bird itself that is the trophy! To this end, he wrote, more or less after Pensom, ?a conformation standard is a license to employ means which will alter a fancier?s entire outlook, thereby it will become a fancy breed.?
In other words, he had the hindsight and the foresight to understand that anytime a conformation ideal is put to paper officially, that some group would come forward to take advantage of the breed and select them only with the idea of winning prizes at a show, thereby completely destroying the breed?s aerial capacities. There are plenty of examples in history to prove this and one needs only to consider how many former flying breeds have become strictly exhibition pigeons barely capable of flight, and the destructive and notorious deeds of such continue to afflict many breeds today and always with the outright decimation of the breed?s aerial abilities.
This fact is unfortunate in that a destructive oddball few with no respect for the breeds and their history whose actions harm the breed in question, also stunt the progress of the dedicated flier in that a much needed guide to true aerial type can never be formulated on an official basis, simply because the show minded are continually ready to find the easy way to earn their glory through a cheap hunk of plastic or ribbon, when in reality, there is no greater glory or importance to the birds than their continued preservation in the air, and as it should and must be, nothing else truly matters
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