Flights of fancy Birmingham roller pigeons have a devoted following

By DAVE REESE

Special to the Inter Lake

Rick Schoening and Rich Hayes stood on frozen ground in the rolling hills near Pablo on Wednesday, watching pigeons circling overhead.

The birds flew in tight formation, around and around.

Then, almost on cue, one by one or two by two, the pigeons began tumbling toward earth as if shot out of the sky.

The pigeons fell and fluttered in backward somersaults as if trying to see how close they could get to the ground before regaining flight.

The birds are Birmingham roller pigeons, an English breed of pigeon whose namesake genetic trait inspires them to perform backward somersaults in the air. They perform their feat up to 20 times in a row.

Schoening and Hayes are diehard pigeon fanciers who live near each other in rolling farmland just south of Polson.

EARLIER, As Schoening opened the door on his small loft of Birminghams, the pigeons, which hadn't flown in a few days, were quick to exit. One bird, barely 20 feet off the ground, began his tumble too early and hit the ground. The bird struggled along the ground, stunned, before it found its wings.

Within seconds of their release, the other birds were grouped in flight, making tight laps around Hayes' yard about 100 feet off the ground.

Schoening and Hayes, two birds of a feather themselves, watched the skybound birds intently and incessantly, following them around and around - and around and around. They don't even take their eyes off the birds to talk to each other.

The friends, both of whom have competed with their birds in world competitions, are able to see the traits of certain birds that might catch a judge's fancy.

"That lavender one balls up nice," Schoening says, watching the sky.

"Yeah, he's really coming along," Hayes provides.

(One of Schoening's cronies found a better way to watch the birds. Instead of enduring the dizzying round and round while standing up, Schoening's friend took a dentist's chair and used that for watching his birds.)

After about 20 minutes, Schoening whistled and rattled two milk jugs as a feed call and the birds returned almost immediately to their loft. A small white pigeon fell into his roll too close to the shed and landed with a 'thwack' on top of the metal roof. Like a prize fighter, the bird struggled to its feet, shook it off and flew a few feet into the roost to join his comrades.

"We don't know why they roll, but they do," Schoening says. "You can see the downside of it, when they hit the ground." An older male pigeon, not content to return to the roost just yet, continued his flight for another 10 minutes by himself. "He's in good shape," Schoening allowed.

Sometimes the birds don't calculate their distance from the ground when they begin their rolls. One bird landed in Hayes' neighbor's yard in a tall, frozen tree, which shook with shivers of frost.

"I hope he's OK," Hayes said, obviously concerned. But after a few minutes, the bird erupted in flight to joined the other birds.

While Hayes is strictly a fancier of Birmingham roller pigeons, Schoening keeps two roosts, or "kits," of pigeons; in one kit are his Birmingham rollers, while another kit holds his white racing pigeons. These large, white pigeons are released at weddings and funerals as symbolic reference to love and flight.

The white pigeons always find their way home. After one wedding in Holland Lake, at least 50 air miles directly east over the imposing Mission Mountains, most of his pigeons were home in a day. Some of his other birds, though, took three months.

"They must have taken the scenic route," said Schoening, a game warden for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks who has raised pigeons since he was a child growing up in Illinois.

After arriving in Missoula to study at the University of Montana, Schoening spent a year in a dormitory while his father cared for his birds. "I had to move off campus," Schoening said. "I missed my birds too much."

Now he's part of this tight-knit group of pigeon fanciers who travel the world to watch each other's Birmingham roller pigeons tumble through the air and compete.

In fact, Schoening was ready to board the Amtrak train in Whitefish on Wednesday for a trip to Portland, where he and other American pigeon fanciers would discuss details for the upcoming world championships.

IN COMPETITION flight, roller pigeons are judged on how well they tumble in concert with their fellow fliers. Better breeding and plenty of exercise make for better rollers, Schoening said.

"It's like getting ready for a marathon," he said. "You want teamwork. It's just critical to scoring."

Schoening's birds aren't just pets or hobbies; they are family to him - and among themselves. They've all been inter-bred to maintain their roller qualities. "You have to develop a tight-knit family," he said. He breeds about 100 birds a year.

When breeding, the male Birmingham struts and coos to win the favor of his female mate. He'll spread his wings and drag his tail on the ground, and often the male and female will grab each other's beaks as if they're kissing. They regurgitate food into each other's mouth "to show they're good parents," Schoening said.

Throughout the courtship, the male and female begin building their nest together. When the eggs - usually a pair - are hatched, the male will take over incubation duties during the day while the hen keeps the eggs warm at night. "Their mating is a very delicate and loving thing to watch," Schoening said.

After six months, the hens will be ready to breed again. Maybe. "Some old hens just won't do it, after they've mated with one male," Schoening said. But if the offspring are good, "I'll just leave them married," he said.

The pigeons can be targets of larger raptors.

In Schoening's back yard Wednesday, a large rough-legged hawk stood watch from a barren cottonwood tree near the pigeon lofts. The large raptors will sometimes attack a pigeon in the air, although they generally opt for easier meals on the ground such as mice.

Still, Schoening winces when he has to watch a hawk or falcon attack one of his birds. "I know how ranchers must feel when a wolf takes one of their cattle," he said.

Winter in Montana is a good time to fly their pigeons, since many of the birds of prey have moved south. That's bad for the California pigeon fanciers, however, whose birds "just get butchered" in the winter, Schoening says.

Like Schoening, Hayes was bitten by the pigeon bug at an early age. He had found a small baby pigeon, known as a squab, when he was a child in California. "Ever since then I was hooked," he said.

The license plates on Hayes' Ford pickup truck say "ROLLERS."

Now retired, Hayes is a devoted pigeon fancier who dotes on his birds - so much so that it probably cost him his last marriage. His wife at the time, he said, felt he spent too much time with his avian friends.

"I love my birds and like flying them," he said. "The whole thing … the breeding, the flying, the camaraderie, is just a very unique hobby."