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Americas Premier Parlor Roller Loft

Hello, my name is Paul Gamino and I'm from California, which is located in the good old U.S.A. I breed a variety of Pigeon called the Parlor Tumbler. Parlor Tumblers are a rare and unique variety of Pigeons. Unique because when fully developed they cannot fly. Parlors are uniquely different due to the fact that Parlors can perform right before your eyes. Unlike a flying tumbler or flying roller which performs in the sky above you. Parlors are performed on a soft grass area to insure that no harm occurs during a performance.

Parlor Tumblers come in three types, which are a single performer, double performer, and the rolling type. The single performer should make but one turn, consisting of a straight backward somersault on the surface of the floor. The double performer should make two successive turns, consisting of two straight backward somersaults on the surface of the floor. The Parlor Roller performers should make a series or number of straight backward turns. The performance is an actual roll on a soft grass area on the ground. All three types of varieties can be found in the United States and other parts of the world. Parlor Tumblers are a strain of Pigeons that have been traced back as far as 1542 under several different names originating in India. Raising only the rolling type of this wonderful breed of pigeons has been my passion for the past 38 plus years and has brought many fond memories.

In the beginning...

I purchased my first Parlor Rollers at the tender age of eight. My first original birds came from a fine gentleman by the name of Bud Steel, a well-known French Mondain breeder in my community, and Andy Crow, a very enthusiastic pigeon man who had extraordinary theories about Parlor Rollers and how to get them to roll long. These two gentlemen, in turn, obtained their Parlor Rollers from Art Day. Art Day was a local dog breeder and pigeon fancier. In the late 60's, Mr. Day obtained his first original Parlor Roller cock from a feed store in Chino, California and the other two original hens from the Great Western All Breed Pigeon Show in Santa Clara, California. The cock was a Grizzle rolling type who for lack of a better description looked like someone had pulled the Parlor Roller through a knothole. The hens that Mr. Day purchased from the Great Western were self-blacks single and double performing hens that looked as well bred as a clean-legged show tumbler or show roller of their time. The first year Mr. Day bred twelve parlors from the three original parlors. The following year he bred over fifty parlors, but shortly after that his health failed and he sold out his entire stock to Mr. Crow and Mr. Steel.

All behavior is learned; therefore, the crucial years of development and ideologies are based on our mentors.

There is a kind of splendor in the pigeon fancy that only comes from what many pigeon breeders as well as people in our society take for granted, the older generation. I was very fortunate to have met two of the greatest Parlor Roller breeders of the modern era and I’d like to pay a short but well deserved homage to them. For it was through their vast knowledge, experiences, and guidance that I owe my fortune and a better understanding of the breed called Parlor Rollers.

At the ripe old age of fourteen, I was introduced to Merrill and Betty Peters by Denis Sores at the Pageant of Pigeons in Pomona, California. My parents, not being able to afford to pay for my stay for a pigeon show that lasted four days in duration, had me stay at the local YMCA in Pomona California. Merrill and Betty Peters took it upon themselves to pick me up everyday and watch over me for sixteen hours a day for four days straight during the Pageant of Pigeons. This was the beginning of a long and rewarding friendship that has given me a world of information and in many ways influenced my philosophical view of this breed and later the direction of my research of this rare and unique breed of pigeons.

In 1976, while attending a lawn show in Manhattan Beach, California, I was introduced by the late Ralph Sisson to a Birmingham Roller, West of England, and Parlor Roller breeder by the name of Danny Mackenzie. Danny Mackenzie a long time breeder of performing breeds was kind enough to invite this young kid and his Parlors over to his home and as they say the rest is history. Danny had some of the best if not the best performing Birmingham, West of England, and Parlor Rollers I have ever seen. One of my favorite stories Danny used to tell was about when Parlors had pretty much died out during the 50's in the Los Angeles area. Breeders would come to his loft and bid on un-laid Parlor eggs. These pigeon breeders would wait until three or four in the morning at times for a Parlor hen to lay an egg. Many times the guys wanting Parlor Rollers would literally having their hands under the hen as the hen is laying. Immediately after that, the egg was whisked away and put under foster parents.

On the road to success...

As a junior breeder of Parlor Rollers in the late 60’s and early 1970’s, I encountered many successes, which was due to quality stock obtained from the masters, Merrill Peters, Danny McKenzie, John (Poncho) Sandoval and Ray E. Gilbert. All the above men put in what I like to call the “Killer Instinct” in their birds to roll until completely exhausted. These men all played an important role in breeding long rollers and were developing great birds some sixty years before I was even born. I feel immensely lucky to have known them and extremely fortunate to have obtained their unique lines of Parlor Rollers. All these fine gentlemen left their distinctive stamp on their Parlor Rollers that can still be seen today.

By learning from the "Great Ones," this loft has produced four World Champions and two of those performances occurred at the Great Pageant of Pigeons (1981 & 2001). The first Parlor Roller to break the one hundred foot barrier at the 1981 Pageant of Pigeons rolled 128’ 10” (39 meters) and the first Parlor Roller to break the two hundred foot barrier at the 2001 Pageant of Pigeons rolled 204’ 2” (62 Meters). The great honor of breaking the 300 foot barrier belongs to Mr. Bill Mustin Jr. at 304' 1". Just six days later at the Grand Daddy of them all the 2004 National Pigeon Association N.P.A. Grand National held in Birmingham Alabama Paul Gamino became the second person in the history of the breed to break 300 feet with a New N.P.A. and World Record performance. This most recent and my third World Record in Alabama occurred January 17, 2004 with an Almond cock band number 186 I named "Pete", after the late great Merrill Peters. Pete turned in an awesome performance of 320 feet 7 inches (97.75 Meters). My little "Pete" to top things off was still rolling when he hit a fence at the end of the practice football field our group was rolling on at the University of Alabama.

The World Record set at the N.P.A Grand National in Birmingham Alabama only stood for less than two months. The New World Record was established during a competition held at a soccer complex in Lancaster California March 27, 2004. The New World Record set by Paul Gamino's DeRoy cock band number 223 rolled an incredible distance of 381' 9" (116. 36 Meters).

Parlor Rollers are the Ultimate Breed in Performing Pigeons. Oh yes… Onward and forward, I shall strive to reach the 400-foot barrier and beyond!

Less than 38 feet to go before surpassing the 700 foot barrier, then I'm setting my sights on the 1,000 foot barrier and beyond!

Well... I've lived and learned the Parlor Roller is a remarkable performing Pigeon. Six hundred and sixty-two feet one inch and this Parlor Roller was still rolling when he ran out of grass area to roll on.

This is truly the story of my life when it comes to breeding

Parlor Rollers

New World Record

662 Feet 1 inch (201. 8 Meters)