ST. LOUIS — High in the air, the pigeons dance. They fly in figure eights and turn backward somersaults.

As they fall through the sky, they somersault again and again. They are spinning balls of feathers.

Then each one pulls out of its fall, flies skyward and repeats the maneuver.

Sometimes they do this in unison, making for an amazing avian chorus line.

These pigeons are a breed called Birmingham Rollers — slightly larger than a dove and splashed in white, red, gray, many hues of black and variations. They have a sweet aspect and a comforting coo.

Their breeders can’t say for sure how often or whether the birds will roll. No one really knows why they do.

People in England have been breeding the rollers since at least the 16th century, and the St. Louis region has become at least a small center for them with about 15 breeders, including some who enter their birds in competitions. They are members of the National Birmingham Roller Club, and the group’s president is Eldon Cheney of Lonedell, Mo.

One local breeder, John Moehlmann, 53, says experience has shown that the roll is not a protective move. Hawks sometimes attack the pigeons when they are rolling because they perceive the rolling bird as injured. Science has shown that the roll is not an epileptic seizure — an autopsy showed that rollers’ brains were the same as those of pigeons who didn’t roll.

“The theory is that a gentleman in England saw a bird do a flip, thought it was neat, caught the bird and domesticated it,” Moehlmann said.

About 2,000 fanciers belong to the national group, including 34 in Missouri and 51 in Illinois.

Most of them are men. The boxer Mike Tyson owns Birmingham Rollers. He had about eight with him in the hotel before his fight in July. The birds had their own room.

The late actor Yul Brynner raised Birmingham Rollers. Moehlmann met Brynner at a national pigeon show in Kansas City in 1974. Brynner used a helicopter to fly alongside his birds and monitor them.

Moehlmann makes and installs patio covers for a living. He and another local fancier, Vernon Hoormann, 74, are drawn to the birds for different reasons, but both show signs of being hooked.

“It’s a hobby where you don’t have to deal with anybody but yourself,” said Hoormann, a retired truck driver. “I like to just sit in the backyard and watch the birds.”

Added Moehlmann: “It’s a new ballgame every time they hatch. The bird can be a champion, or it can be a dud.”

Hoormann has about 40 birds. Moehlmann has about 95. Both have built coops designed to make cleaning easy. Hoormann even has feeders that heat water for the birds in cold weather. Both say the birds don’t defecate much, and Hoormann says the coop is odorless except on very humid days. Both men say caring for the birds takes an hour or two a day.

Moehlmann said his wife, Debbie, was jealous of the birds when they first married, and she asked him which would he choose — her or the birds. Moehlmann, who started raising pigeons at age 12, teased her and said the birds come first. Now she knows as much about the pigeons as he does.

The rollers compete in many ways. They can be judged as part of that spinning chorus line that moves in unison, or they can be judged in solo flight. Height is always a factor. Generally, the bird will roll between 10 and 40 feet through the air, but some roll 100 feet. Some birds compete merely by standing still and meeting the breed’s guidelines for form.

Moehlmann is preparing 20 birds to compete on the local, national and international levels this fall. Hoormann hasn’t decided yet whether his birds will compete. In competitions, the judges and the spectators travel from home to home.

When Moehlmann talks about the birds, he stresses the uncertainty of the sport and says that’s part of why he likes it. First of all, the birds’ rolls are genetic, and there are no guarantees, no matter how sturdy the breeding. Some birds don’t roll at all. Some birds roll too much and hit the ground at midspin and are killed or injured.

Then there are hawks. Moehlmann said that last year, he lost 33 birds to hawks. Another nine died in falls.

Sometimes the birds just fly away. That happened to Hoormann at his first contest almost three decades ago. He let the birds go, and they were rolling perfectly. But a strong southern wind came up and blew them away.

Still, Hoormann finds the hobby calming. He started raising pigeons when a friend gave him a bird. At the time he had an ulcer. “I was just breeding them to look at them,” he said. “My stomachache disappeared.”

The breeders control the birds with food. The birds fly until they get hungry and then return to the coop.

Birmingham Rollers can sell for $1 to $1,000 or more per bird.

“The price depends on the bird and how much someone wants it,” said Moehlmann.

Many of the birds are given away or loaned.

Said Hoormann: “Eventually, if you don’t give people birds and keep people lined up, the hobby will die.”

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.

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