At the time, my own theory for the rolling was that it was a genetically-induced and overdeveloped hawk evasion behaviour (dropping out of the sky at the approach of a stooping falcon with some tumbling mixed in). This seemed to explain why the birds would perform this trick together, usually with one starting, and the rest following as if taking their cues from the one “who saw the hawk first.” Maybe this is why the sparrow tumbled that day—she was reacting to what she thought was an evasive maneuver by her flock mates. Flocking birds take their cues from each other, so this explanation seemed reasonable. Nothing that I observed or understood at the time suggested that their rolling was anything but completely voluntary.

Since then, my opinion has been somewhat modified. I’m not convinced that it’s a seizure disorder, but neither am I set that it’s completely voluntary. I believe there is an element of instinct and reflex involved. I’m more inclined to think as Mr. Siders does—that it’s a recessive behavioural trait like those found in specialist dog breeds. A strong example of that can be found in any purebred Border Collie which will go into a stalk-and-herd series of behaviours whenever an opportunity to herd something presents itself. The dogs do not have to be taught to do this—it’s an instinctive, though modified and tightly controlled, hunting behaviour for which we have selectively bred in these dogs. It’s possible that the origin of rolling pigeons has a similar start—an unusual twist in an otherwise normal, genetically determined, instinctive action (like evading a hawk), catches the fancy of some human pigeon keeper. I won’t know for certain if rolling can be deemed a pathological seizure disorder until some genome work and actual brain studies on pigeons can be done. Until then, I would agree that it is more like the specialized behaviours of working dogs and is thus simply an augmentation of normal instinctive behaviour, or even of normal play behaviour (birds will tumble about in flight as a form of play—watch ravens playing in the wind sometime).

To get back to the hawk issue. I loved my birds. They were pets, not a commercial or competitive enterprise. However, no way would I ever have put them ahead of a wild bird, especially a raptor. I look at the issue of raptor vs domestic pigeon the same way that I look at any wildlife vs any domesticated animal—I side with the wildlife…always, whether it be beef cattle or borzois, hamsters or house cats, no domestic will ever overtop a natural wild animal in my list of moral priorities.

There are millions of domesticated non-feral pigeons, with hundreds of thousands of them aerial performers of one kind or another, and like any very numerous domesticated animal, they are not in danger of extinction (unless and until their human breeders lose interest in them). Wildlife, on the other hand, particularly those at or near the top of food chains, are under constant threat of extinction at the hands of human beings. Our pigeons can withstand the pressure of raptor predation—the raptors cannot withstand the pressures of hunting and habitat loss that we put on them.

I’m one of those people who sees feral cats as an ongoing threat to songbirds and rare reptiles and amphibians. As such, I don’t agree with the trap, neuter, and release programs which “bleeding hearts” promote as the humane way of dealing with the feral cat problem. I say eradicate them, like they do in Australia where feral cats are shot on sight in an effort to protect what’s left of the country’s rare and unique marsupials. I say this as an ardent cat lover who nevertheless cannot put the survival of a house cat above that of a Giant Pacific Salamander. I keep my cats indoors, not just to protect them from the traffic outside my window, but to protect the birds outside that same window from them.

I loved my pigeons, but when one of my hens did not return from a flight, I did not go gunning for the hawk that I was sure must have got her. That would have been wrong, if for no other reason than that she could have been replaced easily, but not so the hawk. Given the time of year, the hawk probably had young—killing that hawk would have meant the death of its chicks as well. Was that manmade pet worth more than the nature-made hawk? Not to me.

Those pigeon hobbyists who killed hawks to protect their flocks acted selfishly and with no regard for the future. I class them in with fashion hounds who still think it’s okay to wear the skin of leopards, and with those who consume shark fin soup because they worry about their virility. No excuse nor argument they could offer in their defense will suffice to lessen the heinousness of what they’ve done.

Again, I want to reinterate that the rolling is not a defect. It is a trait. Birmingham Rollers will shut the roll off when being pursued by BOP and if they go ferrel living and flying with common pigeons will cease rolling. It is a trait that is born from a ressesive gene. That is why not all Birmingham Rollers roll and if you breed them to a non-rolling breed the roll is sometimes lost.

It is not a defect! It is not a siesure. It is like the hunting dog points or sets….a trait.

Thanks,

Nick Siders

I can also understand the desire to protect thier property. I believe that is a natural reaction; they just need to find a legal way of doing it. They also need to change thier habits and learn the habits of bitds of prey and do what they can to avoid attacks and radicate the bird of prey’s habitate and concealment. They also can seek permits to capture birds of prey.

As for whether the tumbling is caused for seizures or because the birds want to do it, I’m not an expert — however, the popular consensus on the issue (at least on the web) appears to be that this behavior is indeed caused by seizures. Do you have any data on this issue, either way?