Pigeon Patrol

Lost pigeon flew the coop, finding her way from France to Calgary

by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 16, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control

Homing pigeons are a remarkable species with internal compasses that are able to memorize landmarks to retrace a path home. But one particular bird ended up so far off its course, it would have been a miracle for her to find her way back.

After being found frozen to a front porch, she was taken in by Calgarian Alex Gray who didn’t know what else to do and posted on social media, eventually tracking down Jeanie Palmer, a woman who raises and rescues pigeons.

“There were a lot of people who wanted the bird but couldn’t prove it was theirs, so I reached out to Jeanie and I said: ‘Alright, we don’t have traction and she doesn’t seem happy by herself, so by all means, come and get her,’” Gray said.

Once Palmer got her home she did some digging and, being a member of the Canadian Pigeon Fancier’s Association, she reached out to her fellow fanciers who helped her identify the tag.

She’s from the Netherlands and belonged to Henk Bax, a man who races pigeons.

“He said, this bird went missing from a race in Vervins, France on April 25, 2021. She was 200 kilometres from the coop and a year-and-a-half later she winds up on the sidewalk in Calgary, Alberta,” Palmer said.

The Dutch owner gave his blessing to keep the pigeon.

“How would you fly from France all the way here? How would she make that? I don’t think she could have made it that far, kudos to her if she did,” Palmer said.

“There’s a reason we named her Amelia Earhart, maybe she did fly here,” Palmer said.

“My jaw dropped,” Gray said.

Both could hardly believe it.

“This could be a book. The bird who flew across the world, or the pigeon who got lost. You could make up any adventures you wanted her to be on. The fact I have her is crazy to me, pretty lucky,” Palmer said.

She’s retiring from racing and will officially become a Canadian. It isn’t legal to ship a bird from Canada to the Netherlands.

“She’s going to join my coop and be a spoiled lazy pigeon. Hopefully she will pick one of my handsome boys and have a happy little family of her own,” Palmer said.

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Pigeons turn into ‘zombie birds’ with twisted necks, trembling wings in UK. Know why and how

by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 16, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Predators, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News

Pigeons in the United Kingdom have become a target of a terrible disease called the Pigeon Paramyxovirus (PPMV) or Newcastle’s Disease. It results in neurological symptoms, including trembling wings and a violently twisted neck. The affected pigeons become reluctant to move and can’t fly. They also have green feces. The disease is fatal.

A JSPCA Animal Shelter spokesperson reported that the shelter had increased the number of grounded pigeons in the last few weeks. Many affected birds had neurological symptoms, such as a twisted neck, circling, or inability to stand. The spokesperson added that these symptoms are signs of pigeon paramyxovirus that affects poultry, doves and pigeons and is invariably fatal.

PPMV is a notifiable disease in captive birds. It does not apply to wild birds. The affected birds die within a few days, and there is no treatment for the disease. PPMV is highly infectious and can spread through feces and other excretions of the affected birds. Surviving birds will shed the virus, becoming a risk to other birds. So, at JSPCA, the infected birds are humanely euthanised. Since the PPMV virus survives better in cold and wet months, the disease’s clusters are usually found at this ..

Is PPMV highly infectious?
PPMV is highly infectious, spreading through the affected bird’s feces and other secretions.

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Caught on camera: 45 pigeons stolen from a yard in Edmonton

by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 16, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Predators, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons, Sparrows, UltraSonic Bird Control

Police in Edmonton are looking for help to solve an unusual crime involving dozens of pigeons.

Video captured on Tuesday night shows a man carrying a large bin and snooping around a pigeon enclosure in the backyard of a home on Checknita Way SW around 9:25 p.m.

Someone noticed the man, wearing a white tank top and shoulder holster, and called in a “suspicious person” complaint.

Feral Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) perched with a blue sky background

Before officers arrived, the man made off with 45 of the homeowners’ 60 competition pigeons, Edmonton Police Service said.

The birds are worth about $300 each, making it a loss of $13,500.

“What’s interesting about the video is that the suspect is wearing fairly distinctive clothing and it looks like some sort of fashion item or wallet that he’s wearing and that may help people recognize who he is,” said Cheryl Voordenhout with EPS.

City of Edmonton bylaws permit homeowners to have up to 75 pigeons.

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This bird had been considered ‘lost’ for 140 years. Here’s how scientists found it again

by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 16, 2023 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Law, Bird Netting, Bird Spikes

John Mittermeier could barely believe his eyes when he saw the footage of a little black and orange bird strutting its tail feathers in front of the camera.

He and his team have captured video of a black-naped pheasant-pigeon on an island in Papua New Guinea. It was the first time the bird had been documented since 1882.

“This is just a story of excitement and hope,” Mittermeier told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “I mean, how incredible is it that this species was missing to scientists for 140 years and we were able to find it?”

Mittermeier was the co-leader of a 30-day expedition to search the island of Fergusson for signs of the elusive creature. They had just about lost all hope when one pranced right past one of their motion sensor cameras on Day 28.

“We had been working incredibly, incredibly hard to try to find this bird. We had tons of doubts going through our mind at that point, thinking that we might not be able to find it, wondering if it even existed,” Mittermeier said.

“It’s kind of like all our dreams coming true and just this incredible, incredible relief.”

The expedition was a joint venture by the American Bird Conservancy, the Papua New Guinea National Museum and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Mittermeier is the director of the lost birds program at the American Bird Conservancy. In partnership with Re:wild and BirdLife International, his organization is trying to find and document the more than 140 “lost” birds around the world.

And by lost, he means birds that have no confirmed documentation — in the form of photographs, audio recordings or genetic samples — for 10 or more years.

By that definition, you can’t get much more lost than the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, or Otidiphaps insularis, which was first described by scientists in 1882, then never again.

“The pheasant pigeon really stood out because it’s one of the birds that’s been lost for the longest period of time,” Mittermeier said. “Or I should say it was one of the birds that had been lost for the longest periods of time.”

Local knowledge was key

All the scientists really knew about the bird was that it was first spotted on Fergusson, an island in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea. Even that wasn’t much to go on, given that the island spans 1,500 square kilometres.

So the team relied on local knowledge, and began by interviewing residents.

At first, most of the people they spoke to said they’d never heard of the bird — until they reached the villages on the western Mt. Kilkerran. The hunters were familiar with the bird, which is known locally as an auwo.

It was a local hunter named Augustin Gregory in the village of Duda Ununa who give them their big break. He told the scientists he’d seen the auwo on multiple occasions. He described how it looked, moved and sounded in great detail.

He took the scientists to the places where he’d spotted the creature. They didn’t see any up close in person but they planted cameras in those locations. It was at one of those sites that the bird finally appeared.

“The game-changer in terms of finding it was really some leads we got from some local people there — particularly this one man,” Mittermeier said. “A huge component of this story is the incredible local knowledge.”

Serena Ketaloya, a conservationist from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, says the discovery is a welcome one.

“The communities were very excited when they saw the survey results, because many people hadn’t seen or heard of the bird until we began our project and got the camera trap photos,”

“They are now looking forward to working with us to try to protect the pheasant-pigeon.”

What do we know about the auwo?

At this point, scientists don’t know much about the auwo. They have two sets of photographs and video of at least two birds.

They suspect — for obvious reasons — that it’s very rare and geographically limited.

“My first hope is really that we’re going to have an opportunity to learn more about this bird, get a better sense of where exactly it occurs on the island, what its population size might be, and what potential threats it could be facing,” Mittermeier said.

“And then the next hope is really that we’re going to be able to turn that information into a great collaboration with some of the local communities there and find a way to protect this bird, perhaps develop some eco-tourism so that people can go and see it personally. I know I’d love to actually see it.”

It’s just one thing about the future that has him excited.

“I’m really optimistic that some of the other birds around the world might be able to be found as well. And I’m hoping we can do that and get some more good news in the near future.”

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Pigeon droppings health risk – should you worry?

by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 6, 2023 | Bird Spike, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Predators, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Raccoons

An infection linked to pigeon droppings was a “contributing factor” in the death of a child at a Glasgow hospital, it has been confirmed.

The child was being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital when he or she appears to have caught the infection – a fungus called cryptococcus.

The child has not been named. The fungus did not contribute to the death in December of a second patient infected with the same pathogen, say experts.

What is it?

Cryptococcus is a yeast-like fungus that lives in the environment.

It can be found in soil contaminated by pigeon droppings.

How can you catch it?

People can become infected if they breathe it in.

The child who died in December at the hospital in Glasgow had been exposed to the fungus.

Experts say the probable source has been traced to a room on the rooftop of the hospital. Pigeon droppings appeared in the room via a small break in the wall which was “invisible to the naked eye”, Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman confirmed.

The hospital says it has put infection control measures in place and no further cases have been reported.

How risky is it?

Most won’t get sick, but vulnerable people with already weakened immunity can get very ill with a chest infection or meningitis.

Expert Prof Hugh Pennington says it is very unusual to see cases in the UK.

“It is common in other parts of the world, particularly tropical parts, in the US and countries like that where they have more problems with this particular kind of fungus. But in the UK, very uncommon.

“There are cases in people who have problems with their immune systems. They’re the people who are at risk with this kind of bug.”

Cryptococcus infection cannot spread from person to person.

How dangerous is pigeon poo?

Breathing dust or water droplets containing contaminated bird droppings can lead to several diseases, including a flu-like illness called psittacosis.

Salmonella – a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhoea – may also be present in some bird droppings.

If you are cleaning up or come into contact with droppings, you should take precautions. Wash your hands and clean any exposed skin before eating, drinking or putting your hands near your mouth.

Likewise, if you are feeding or handling birds, wash your hands afterwards.

If you have a compromised immune system, including from HIV/AIDS or cancer, you should not clean up droppings.

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Next Entries »

Lost pigeon flew the coop, finding her way from France to Calgary

Pigeons turn into ‘zombie birds’ with twisted necks, trembling wings in UK. Know why and how

Caught on camera: 45 pigeons stolen from a yard in Edmonton

This bird had been considered ‘lost’ for 140 years. Here’s how scientists found it again

Local knowledge was key

What do we know about the auwo?

Pigeon droppings health risk – should you worry?

What is it?

How can you catch it?

How risky is it?

How dangerous is pigeon poo?

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