United Oriental Roller Pigeon Association

The Oriental Roller pigeon origins come from the Middle East and Asian countries, namely Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Kurdistan, which is northern Iran, Iran and other countries in the Asian part of the world. Orientals are a very old breed and are known for their performance or rolling and their different style of body. It is believed that this bird was used in crossing with other birds to make the present day rollers. The Oriental Roller has stood the test of time and is still in its original form and type. The bird does not have an oil gland, which is one of its characteristics. The Oriental carries its wings below its tail and it has more than the normal twelve tail feathers. An average of fourteen to sixteen is common. The old writing about Orientals gives the colors as black, dun, almonds (various combinations of almonds.) Some show mostly black and white, dun and white, and the standard almond background color. No doubt there were many other colors, but these are mentioned most. Now, we have just about every color in Orientals that there are in pigeons. In the past, the Oriental Roller had lemon or yellow eyes as well as pearl eyes, but over the years the lemon eye was bred out. Now, it is rare to see a bird with lemon eyes. Whites have dark or bull eyes, but some breeders are trying to breed them with pearl eyes so there are a few of them around now. The Oriental does not fly in a kit as well as does the Birmingham Roller. They prefer to be more individuals and do their own thing in the air. Smaller kits of ten to fifteen birds do much better than larger ones.