THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170653
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
IF YOU'RE A TYPICAL CITY DWELLER who thinks that once you've seen one pigeon, you've seen them all, it's obvious you've never met Amanda Gilbert.
At age 9, the North Landing Elementary School fourth-grader already knows more about the high-strutting, chest-puffing little birds than most adults will learn in a lifetime. And she's more than happy to share that knowledge.
Join her in the lofts out behind her granddad Roy Hoenig's place down on Indian Creek Road for a quick lesson and you'll never look at pigeons in the same way again.
``These are turbits,'' she'll tell you as she leads you from loft to loft pointing out the differences among the breeds, ``and these are rollers and those are fantails.''
Suddenly, you realize that pigeons vary from each other at least as much as humans do and that a soft-spoken four-foot-something-inch lady with long brown hair is about to add immeasurably to your education.
At least as far as pigeons are concerned.
You probably couldn't have a better teacher for your introductory course. Gilbert returned from the State Fair in Richmond a couple of months ago with a total of 18 awards in the pigeon and dove show. The trophies and ribbons represented two championships, one reserve championship, seven first-place awards, six seconds and two thirds.
Not bad for a first-time competitor at the state level.
Gilbert received multiple awards in both areas in which pigeons are judged: performance and appearance. She's quick to show off the attributes of both.
Take the rollers, for instance. They're bred for their ability to put on quite a show.
``Watch this,'' Gilbert said as she opened a specially designed door near the top of their loft, shooed the black and white spotted birds out into the cool fall afternoon and led a visitor outside.
The pigeons went straight up, milled about above the family's farm for a minute or two, then went into a strange sort of ritual.
``Pick one bird and watch it,'' Gilbert's mother, Ruth Edney, advised. The words were hardly out of her mouth before, one after another, the pigeons began doing barrel rolls against the bright blue sky, resembling nothing more than air-show performers gone totally berserk.
A few minutes later, the rollers decided to call it a day and returned to the loft entry where they lined up in somewhat disorderly fashion, exchanged a few soft - if impatient - sounds and went through the trap door, one by one.
Gilbert, in the meantime, went on to show off some birds bred for their beauty.
``These are fantails,'' she explained, pointing to a cage of aptly named birds who looked like well-fed pigeons from the front end, strutting miniature turkeys from the rear.
Altogether, Gilbert and her grandfather have well over 100 birds, along with breeding and show records on each. Raising, breeding and record-keeping require a lot of work, and the young ribbon-winner is willing to do her share and more.
She talks knowledgeably about the record-keeping as well as the basic reality of the housekeeping end of the job. ``You really have to scrape a lot when you clean out the lofts,'' she said with a grimace.
Amanda and her 11-year-old sister, Audra, live with their mother and stepfather, Tim Edney, on the family farm, Spotted Acres, just next door to their grandparents. In addition to the pigeons, there are six Appaloosa horses, a cow, an undetermined number of hens, a rooster or two, a couple of hutches of rabbits, three or four dogs and a gerbil.
Amanda hopes to be a veterinarian someday. In the meantime, she'll keep on working hard in school and at home while learning all that her grandfather can teach her about the pigeons she loves. MEMO: The Virginia Pigeon and Dove Association will hold its annual fall show
at the state fairgrounds in Richmond Saturday. Call Jerry or Jo Ryan at
340-0162. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Amanda Gilbert, 9, shows off one of her award-winning fantailed
pigeons, which are bred for their beauty.
by CNB