# Performing Rollers



## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

Aloha All,

Here's a pic I got today as the birds were coming down.










Here's a video I took last month. Enjoy.


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2008)

wow that was a great little pigeon flick you took , now thats what I call rollers  I dont think I have ever seen so many birds in a flock roll at once like that in any other video that I have ever seen..awesomeeeeee!! Thanks for sharing and hope you do great in the championships , good luck


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I think that's the best video I've ever seen of Rollers. Got a question..or two..
In the competition, what exactly are the judges judging? How many roll at once? How many times they roll in "x" amount of minutes? And........I've seen Roller guys advertise that their birds roll, 10, 20 30 feet....etc.......just exactly how does that get measured?


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## Avion (May 28, 2007)

Fantastic video. Very enjoyable watching the kit tumble together. Thanks for posting. Hope you do good in the competition.

George


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Very cool video*

Thanks Dexter, did my heart good to watch that.

I'm sure Dexter will be along to answer some of the questions but I'll throw my 2 cents in for now. There are actually formulas that tell roughly how many times they roll per second. There is a chart that tells how many feet of drop per second that helps to determine the distance. If I remember correctly, it's about 20 feet per second.

I know that the birds are judged on the overall performance of the kit and that staying with the kit is about as important as rolling. It's my understanding that birds that roll too deeply would detract from the performance of the kit so that birds that roll alittle less and are able to stay in formation are more desirable. Probably 30 to 50 feet is about as much as you'd want for competition. There are birds that drop 100 feet or more but this would not be the norm and these would be more individual performers than good kit performers. Dexter is sure to have more insight into this as he is a part of the competitions.

Bill


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Great video, Dexter! Thanks for sharing it with us. Good luck in the competition!

Terry


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## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

Aloha All,

Thanks for the comments. 

As for the competitions: 
First the kit (flock) consists of 15 to 20 birds. The judging is for 20 minutes but the birds have to fly for at least 15 minutes or else they DQ.
A minimum of 5 birds have to *ROLL* simultaneously before they can be scored. A scorable roll has to be at least 10 feet and of good quality.
The generally accepted measure is 10 feet per second. The rolls have to be fast enough that the revolutions cannot be counted and "clean" (nice straight drop without any deviation).
You are allowed one "outbird". That is a bird that is flying away from the kit not trying to get back. If there are 2 or more outbirds scoring stops until they rejoin the kit.
Scoring the breaks: (A break is the simultaneous rolling of 5 or more birds).
5-9 birds= 1 point each bird.
10-14 birds= 2 points each bird.
15-19 birds= 3 points each bird.
20 birds or full turn = 200 points. (No one has scored this in the National or International level YET.)
The total of the breaks becomes the Raw score. Now to this there are quality multipliers and depth multipliers. From 1.0 to 2.0. Multiply this to the raw score and get your final score.

Bill is right about being watchful of those deeeeep rollers. Because they will have a harder time keeping up with the kit and most likely will become one of the "outbirds". You want birds that roll about the same depth, 20-40 feet would be perfect. (IMO) Also, birds that only roll when the others roll is a plus. A bird that rips a roll by itself is nice but wont score in a competition.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Aloha Dexter*

Thanks for explaining the scoring process.

I remember our birds flying in kits and watching them stall into a headwind and start their rolling. I always tried to stick with birds that had a sense of what they were doing and appeared as though they did this for fun. They are truly amazing to watch.

It's been at least five years since we've flown our birds, first my son's worries over hawks and then my neighbor's concern over pigeon poop. I gotta get outta here and get back to the country where I belong.

Bill


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