Hannibal Lecter and Roller Pigeons

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In the film Hannibal there is a scene where Clarice is listening to a tape of Hannibal Lecter talking to Barney. Hannibal is talking about Roller Pigeons and says something along the lines of.
There are two types of rollers deep rollers and shallow rollers if you breed two deep rollers together their offspring will roll all the way to the ground and kill themselves.
Is this true or was it just made up to demonstrate what a polymath the old psycho was?
 
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Most likely not true but I am not a Roller Pigeon breeder.
I thing it means that too much of a good thing can be detrimental in the end, more is not always better. Hannibal the polymath and also the writer(s).
 
It seems to have a basis in fact:

The answer to the question, "Why do the pigeons roll?" is controversial. One answer to this question could be this: Apparently there is a gene called the "ro" gene that controls the rolling/tumbling behaviour in pigeons. This "ro" gene sets the rolling behaviour to a degree from "none" to "high". Some pigeon breeds do not roll, some just do one backward somersault, some roll, and some do not even fly, they just roll on the ground like a Parlor Roller does.
The Galaţi Rollers have the "ro" gene, and the young birds learn to do the acrobatics by experience. At first they do pirouettes, then when they get stronger and fly around the loft, they ride on their tails (they glide with their wings shaped like the letter "V", leaning on their tails). Gradually, with practice, they lean more and more on their tails when they glide, and at some point they do the somersault. With time and practice, they learn how to roll (more successive somersaults). They must recover from their acrobatics and not hit the ground. There are pigeons that cannot control their rolls and will hit the ground. Such birds are called "bomber" or "kamikaze" and obviously do not have a long life expectancy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaţi_roller
 
Monique said:
Pigeons roll? :smile:

I had never understood that line until now. Not only do pigeons roll in the air, they also roll on the ground. In competition. Go figure.

Need a laugh? Its pigeon bowling.

 
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Monique said:
Pigeons roll? :smile:
But do they rock as well