Hillview Exotics

The German Modena is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding. German Modena's, along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons, are all descendants from the Rock Pigeon. The breed comes in many different colors and two main varieties, Gazzi and Schietti. Gazzi is a pied marking with the head and portion of the throat, the wings and the tail colored and the rest of the bird being white. Schietti's are non-pied.. Modena is named after the town in which they were breed in Italy, called Modena. Further cross breeding has determined today’s Modena when the original breed was crossed with a Florentine. Modena’s are best described as having a short body and a very wide chest.

We breed two species of the Modena at Hillview, the Bronze Tri Gazzi and the Black Gazzi.

The homing pigeon is a variety of domesticated Rock Pigeon that has been selectively bred to be able to find its way home over extremely long distances. Homing pigeons are called carrier pigeons when they are used to carry messages.

Most researchers believe that the homing ability is based on a "map and compass" model, with the compass feature allowing birds to orient and the map feature allowing birds to determine their location relative to a goal site (home loft). The compass mechanism appears to rely on the sun, the map mechanism is believed to rely on the ability of birds to detect the Earth's magnetic field but after nearing their home lofts, in areas they have previously visited, pigeons probably are guided by visual landmarks.

People often have the misunderstanding that the pigeons know where to deliver the messages. The fact is that they can only go back to one "mentally marked" point that they have identified as their home. So "pigeon mail" can only work when the sender is actually holding the receiver's pigeons.

The King is a breed of pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding primarily as a utility breed. Kings along with other varieties of domesticated pigeons are all descendants from the Rock Pigeon. The breed is known for large size and suitability for squab production. The breed also has a variety bred for exhibition purposes at pigeon shows. It is called the Show King to distinguish it from the purely utility variety. The Show King is dual purpose and can be used for raising squab and originated in the United States. They were developed during the 1890's by crossing four older varieties. The Duchess for grace; The Homer for alertness; The Maltese for compactness and style: the Runt for body and size.

We have 3 colors to choose from in the Kings; Rome, White and Blue.

The Birmingham Roller is a breed of domesticated pigeon that originated in England, where they were developed via selective breeding, for their ability to do rapid backward somersaults while flying. As the name suggests this breed was developed in and around the City of Birmingham in England. The Birmingham Roller has a flying type and a show type. Show Rollers are larger than the flying variety, and are bred just for show. A similar breed called a Parlor Roller look much like Birmingham Rollers, but can't fly, they spin back somersaults on the ground for many yards.

This 8 ounce feathered friend is genetically programmed to flip backwards, provided adequate training, diet, and exercise. The spinning can appear to be so fast that the bird looks like a ball of feathers falling toward the ground. They recover from the spin and return to their flock, called a “kit”. Roller pigeons tumbling flight action is the result of a genetic seizure-like condition that causes them to throw up their wings, cock back their heads, and flip backward, somersaulting repeatedly during flight. This performance varies greatly in its extent as well as the birds' ability to control the trait.