"It was one of the most shocking and sickening scourges of bird-related crime since Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918. A 14-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's law enforcement division revealed that thousands of peregrine falcons, Cooper's hawks, and red-tailed hawks were deliberately killed in California, Oregon, and Washington. The culprits were members of 'roller pigeon clubs' -- enthusiasts of domestic pigeons specially bred for their seizure-like ability to do rapid backward somersaults while flying. To protect their aerial acrobats from any chance encounter with a predator, these callous club members killed the protected birds of prey by shooting, trapping, poisoning, clubbing, baiting birds into glass panels, and even baiting birds with pigeons rigged with fishing hooks."
Link: Full Article from The Huffingtonpost.com
Past blogs about Rollers:
Link: "Winged Thugs"
Link: Birds of Prey and Rollers
Link: Rollers back in the News
Cooper's Hawk © Mike McDowell