A pair of falcons perched high above the Melbourne CBD skyline have gotten birdwatchers excited for an impending hatch after laying four fresh eggs – with the action all happening via webcam.
Viewers tuning into the livestream have been given renewed hope after the webcam was taken down last year after two chicks were witnessed dying after a suspected poisoning.
Watchers have been sitting nervously, keeping track of the falcons who are trying their best to incubate the eggs on top of the 33-storey 367 Collins St skyscraper.
Talking to ABC News, Birdlife Australia volunteer Dr Victor Hurley discussed why he believes the dead chicks didn’t get past the point of infancy.
Mr Hurley said they’d had trouble with adult falcons catching pigeons who had ingested bird deterrent-type chemicals which have been known to be used to eradicate feral pigeons in the city.
‘The peregrines feed almost exclusively on other birds, so they see this pigeon lame and they pick it up and it’s covered in this fairly caustic gel which the peregrines then ingest themselves,’ he said.
Birdwatchers in Melbourne are ecstatic at the news of four eggs being laid by a peregrine falcon after two of its chicks tragically dying last year after feeding off a poisoned pigeon
Peregrine Falcon
– Peregrine Falcons live in several of Australian major cities, nesting on ledges of skyscrapers.
– They feed on small and medium-sized birds, as well as rabbits and other day-active mammals.
– Peregrines swoop onto their prey at speeds of up to 300km/h, which has inherent dangers, as they occasionally collide with overhead wires, usually fatal at such speeds.
– Rather than building a nest, they lay their eggs in recesses of cliff faces, tree hollows or in the large abandoned nests of other birds. The female incubates the eggs and is fed by the male on the nest.
The tragedy was made more potent after Dr Hurley claimed he had been told by Melbourne City Council that these chemicals were illegal in the city boundaries but peregrine falcons were known to hunt up to 10kilometres from the nest.
While it is currently unclear whether the two falcons seen on webcam are the same from last year, Dr Hurley says they look remarkably similar.
‘You’ve probably got a pair surviving at a site, on average, maybe three to four years, and then one of them dies and they get replaced, or another one comes in and kills the resident and takes over,’ Dr Hurley said.
The falcons have generated so much discussion that a dedicated Facebook page has been set up, named the 367 Collins Falcon Watchers.
It’s founder, Leigh Stillard, who started the page to support the work of the Victorian Peregrine Project, believes that the more people watch the footage and post images the more awareness and knowledge on how to treat this ‘remarkable creature’ can be told.
The falcon and its eggs can be watched on a live-stream from on top of 367 Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD
‘We hope one day we will see many more bird of prey families living in the Melbourne CBD,’ he said.
According to Dr Hurley, if the falcons continue to incubate undistracted the recently laid eggs should hatch in around 30 days.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
As the band-tail pigeon swung in over the gravel pit, I shouldered my Remington Wingmaster shotgun, swung my aim through the bird and fired. It folded and came down hard, and my Lab mix quickly retrieved it. My first shot at a wild pigeon had scored. “Not bad,” I thought to myself, “nothin’ to it!”
I wondered why so many bird hunters had told me that band-tails were a challenging bird to hunt?
I then ran off 21 straight shots without drawing a feather, chewing on humble pie the whole time.
Band-tail pigeons were once much more popular to hunt in the Northwest than they are now. The season was closed in Washington from 1991 to 2001 to let the population recover from over-hunting.
Over that 10 year period most hunters forgot all about them.
These backwoods relatives of the city pigeon are common in the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest. It is a sociable bird that gathers in large flocks as it makes its yearly migrations in the fall and spring.
They are a pastel gray-blue in color, and they can be told from their city-dwelling cousins by the long tail with a wide, pale band at the tip. A white neck crescent is also obvious when the birds are close. They have a black-tipped bill and yellow legs. Their call is a soft, owl-like coo.
And, they fly really fast. Even seasoned scatter-gunners will find them difficult to hit with any regularity.
They are also a wild mountain-loving bird that eats honest, wild foods, and they taste much better than any common pigeon could ever taste.
The band-tailed pigeon is the closest genetic relative of the extinct passenger pigeon. Like the passenger pigeon, band-tails were also hunted hard over the decades, which led to the closures. While the birds are now recovering, they still need protections.
For that reason, the season is short, eight days in total, and the bag limit is two per day. The season runs from Sept. 15-23.
Hunters in Washington will need a small game license, a state migratory bird permit, and a migratory bird authorization with a band-tailed pigeon harvest record card to hunt them.
The band-tails of the Northwest migrate along the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges from British Columbia to California. Hunters ambush them by positioning themselves along saddles that the birds pass over, rock quarries that offer grist for the birds, feeding areas, and mineral springs.
According to Eric Holman, a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Region 5, the birds have a fruit and seed diet.
“They are fond of elderberries and cascara berries,” said Holman. “They also like cherries and other fruiting trees.”
“Look for places where they are going for food,” said Holman. “Try pass shooting as they come and go from the feeding areas.”
This heavy diet of fruit in the summer leads the birds to seek out mineral springs to gain extra nutrients. Therefore, mineral springs are great places to hunt for band-tails.
They also tend to sit on the very tips of tall fir trees, especially single trees that give the birds a good view of any approaching threat. Looking for these perched birds is a great way to find the flocks.
Holman reports that hunters take only about 100 to 200 band-tails per year.
“It used to be higher,” he said. “When it reopened in 2002 we would get six to seven hundred a year, but it’s been tapering off.”
He feels the newness of the hunts created some initial excitement when it first reopened, but the extra regulations may be putting some people off.
Either way, the birds are fun to hunt, taste surprisingly good, and offer bird hunting with almost no competition.
These are tough, wild birds, and they are hard to bring down. You had better hit them hard or they will just keep on flying. Forget the game loads, too. Try high-brass loads of shot sizes 5 and 6.
Band-tails have excellent eyesight, and if you raise your gun too early, or let your dog wander, it will spook the incoming birds. Stay well-hidden, and reduce movement if you want any quality shots.
They also have a whole repertoire of dirty tricks. They will sweep over your head from behind, sliding right over you in good range, and they are gone before you can shoot. They will turn on a dime right before they venture into range. And, they can duck and dodge better than a mourning dove.
In Southwest Washington, hunters should look to the tree farms. These actively managed lands tend to draw plenty of birds, but most private timberlands now require a permit to hunt them.
Still, they provide most of what the birds want, and hunters with permits should find them there in good numbers.
Hunters can look for DNR and BLM lands along the migration routes, too. A good pair of binoculars will help you spot the flocks as they move.
If you want a fun wing-shooting challenge, give these birds a try. However, unless you are a better shot than myself, prepare to be humbled.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Late in the summers of my childhood, black specks would fall out of the sky, floating in through my open bedroom window, snagging on the net curtains. Though we lived a good half mile from the nearest field, the charred shreds from stubble-burning made no distinction between town and country. Sooty showers rained down on suburban sensibilities year after year. Though people complained, nothing changed, for this was an age when farming sat in the social and political ascendancy.
A quarter of a century after a nationwide ban on stubble-burning began, the cereal fields are left to simmer under a weakening sun. Many hot weeks ago, the combines came and the harvest was taken off. Gold expanses of spiky stalks were left in regimented lines with bleached debris beneath. But, even now, on warming afternoons, the dusty plenty of July wafts from the roasted aftermath of the crop. There is spilled wheat in the chaff, barley grains exuding malted odours beneath stiff-straight stems, and from every “bare” field, a toasty flavour on the nose.
And still the harvest keeps giving. Early in the morning, wood pigeons, the white-collared workers of the tractor tramlines, are gorging in conspiratorial huddles among the barley stubble, paying little attention to the bike soughing alongside on the dirt track.
Off the bridleway, a flock of greylag geese in a slow bustle, some heads up, some heads down, are paddling through the wheat sticks. Big birds, big appetites. Holding a bumpy line beside the hedge, I swivel my head to the right and count. Fifty-two, fifty-three geese. They are not plucking at straws; they are finding something to eat.
I have half an eye on the thick tussocks at the base of one hedge, where there are whipped whirlpools of grass with black holes at their core. A rat spurted out of one the other day in front of me, a blur of thrusting snout and spider-fast legs. It trailed a pale tail that appeared to have levitated to the horizontal. I find myself glancing down now, checking hole by hole, filled with a mixture of excited expectation and revulsion. Human antipathy towards this gleaner of the fields runs very deep indeed.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A law prohibiting the deliberate feeding of eagles, ravens, crows and seagulls is moving forward following Thursday’s Ketchikan City Council meeting.
The council also approved a memorandum of agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers adding $8.50-per-hour to the base wage for journeyman metermen and electricians.
The bird-baiting ordinance passed in first reading. Two people spoke in opposition during public comment. Martha Thomas is co-owner of Sourdough Tours, which started baiting eagles at its property near The Plaza mall this summer.
Thomas said the ordinance starts the city down the wrong path. It began with a complaint about eagles.
“Now you guys drafted this ordinance. You’ve included seagulls, ravens and crows,” she said. “But again you haven’t talked about the pigeon. My neighbor didn’t like me feeding the pigeons so are you saying he can go up to you guys and say, ‘You know what? Let’s do an ordinance against the pigeons. You know what, I don’t like my neighbor. She’s got too much garbage in her house, let’s do an ordinance against that.’”
After Sourdough Tours started eagle baiting, residents in the nearby Cedar Point condominiums complained to the city about increased eagle feces; and others expressed concern about safety.
That and worry over “copycat” tours adding to the problem prompted the council to move forward with an ordinance. It’s based on one adopted in Homer, and calls for a $500 fine for each violation.
During council discussion, the only member to speak against the ordinance was Julie Isom.
“I hate the idea that a company is actually feeding the eagles for profit, but I’m not going to support a law against it,” she said.
The bird-baiting ordinance passed in first reading 6-1 with Isom voting no. It will come back for a second vote.
Also Thursday, the council heard from city employees who asked that raises for some Ketchikan Public Utilities employees be extended to all city and KPU staff. City employees submitted a letter and petition with that formal request.
Public Works Department employee Clayton Hancock addressed the council.
“The issues of competitiveness in the job market and retention of skilled labor are problems that are citywide, not exclusive to one department as highlighted by the fact that there are more than 20 positions vacant throughout the city,” he said. “The city council has informed us they want to commission another wage study before addressing the issue at hand. However, an exception was made for power linemen. The employees are requesting that the city council treat all employees the same.”
During council discussion later, members agreed that the piecemeal approach is not ideal. Here’s Mark Flora.
“Not to say that these folks aren’t worth their bump, (but) we had a room full of people who made it pretty clear that the way this process is unfolding is exactly the kind of thing that kills morale and drives wedges between people,” he said.
Flora also expressed concern about how to pay for wage increases.
But, the council unanimously approved the MOA. With that wage increase, they hope to attract and retain workers. In mid-August, the council approved a $2-per-hour wage increase for KPU journeymen linemen and apprentices, for similar reasons.
The council also held a public hearing Thursday on a community development grant for Women In Safe Homes to potentially take over and renovate the former Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility. Several people spoke in favor of that proposal.
The hearing is a required part of the state’s process to qualify for the grant.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A 26-year-old bird trader, Rana Das, was allegedly lynched on Wednesday in Narkeldanga over allegations of stealing pigeons. Four persons were arrested. Das and his cousin, Somnath Mali, were accosted by 15-16 people between 6am and 7am. The mob alleged that Das, who sold exotic and common birds, had no licence for the business and demanded Rs 15,000. They also claimed that Das had stolen pigeons from them. “Soon, the argument turned violent. The mob tied up Das and Mali, and thrashed them with rods and sticks. They then dragged the duo – both residents of the Narkeldanga slum – towards Gurudas Halt railway station,” claimed a local, Kartik Mali. Das was declared dead on Thursday morning, but his cousin remains in a critical condition at NRS Hospital. Recommended By Colombia The incident sparked tension in Narkeldanga early on Thursday. The agitation soon spread to neighbouring Manicktala after locals from Basakbagan blocked the Maniktala Main Road-Narkeldanga North Road crossing between 11.40am and 12.35pm, demanding the arrest of all those involved in the incident. As the area was shut for traffic, RAF officials were kept on standby, in case the situation got violent. However, the local police managed to bring the situation under control. Asesh Biswas from GRP (Sealdah) told TOI, “We have arrested four persons – Chinu, Rakesh, Amit and David – in this regard. A murder case has been initiated and search is on for the others.” Police said an initial probe has revealed that the four suspects were friends of Das. “All of them sold birds illegally. David also worked at a hotel in Topsia. The accused have previous cases of rioting and causing hurt registered against them,” another officer said.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Herds of rustled cattle, millions of stolen bees and a flock of pinched pigeons are only a handful of farm crimes that film producer Geoff Morrison displays in his new documentary series.
The series, titled Farm Crime, tells the stories of farmers across the country who have been victims of crime. The documentary sets a serious tone, underscoring how crime negatively affects a farmer’s well-being and their livelihood.
“I think when I started reading up on these stories, the first thing that surprised me was that there is a large market value for these products,” said Morrison of Big Cedar Films.
“When I think of that one theft involving maple syrup in Quebec, it was enormous in scale, something like $18 million. People were laughing at it, but it was actually serious. It’s incredible someone could pull that off.”
Morrison partnered with CBC to air the series online, releasing a set of six 15-minute episodes each week. They include cases of stolen cattle, blueberries, bees, pigeons and oysters. As well, he profiles a farm that saw a thief butcher stolen animals on site.
Like the maple syrup theft, he said these cases were hardly taken seriously. Mainstream news organizations weren’t reporting on them and, if they did, they were treated like a joke.
“It was clear to me that coverage from big or national publications was light,” he said. “It was somehow hilarious that all these bees were stolen. The local papers did take it a lot more seriously.”
When selecting farmers to profile, he said he wanted people who were comfortable sharing their stories. As well, out of the six provinces he visited, he profiled one farmer per province to showcase agriculture’s diversity.
“At the end of the day, they are good human stories of people willing to share what they’ve gone through,” he said.
The case involving oyster thefts in Prince Edward Island sticks with him the most. Morrison said the oysterman was robbed while tending to his sick wife in hospital. With the help of others, they managed to catch the thief, who was later prosecuted.
“That’s a standout case,” he said. “They handled it well, even with the terrible circumstances they were facing.”
For many of the farmers he profiled, he said crime has had long-lasting effects on them. Some change the way they do business and they feel less secure.
In the case involving stolen pigeons, Morrison said the farmer has lost his sense of security and isn’t entirely comfortable with people on his property.
“That moment of having his pigeons stolen still comes back to him,” he said. “It’s not unique for any victim of crime to feel that way.”
Morrison said he hopes the series makes people, especially those living in cities, more aware of farming and how crime can severely affect farmers.
“I hope they get a greater appreciation for the hard work that goes into growing food and agriculture products,” he said. “These crimes need to be taken seriously and we need to respect those victims, like any victim of crime.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Australian readers – and enthusiastic bird-watchers who have visited Australia – may well be familiar with the crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), an attractive little bird common across the southern half of the continent.
There are two things distinctive about the species. The first, not surprisingly, is the prominent crest on its head. The second is the loud, high-pitched, repetitive whistling sound it makes when it flies.
Ornithologists have long been perplexed about the origin of the noise, which is audible from a considerable distance away, because it is does not emanate from the bird’s beak.
Now however, a trio of researchers from the Australian National University in Canberra have solved the mystery. The noise is produced by a highly modified wing feather.
In a paper published in the journal Current Biology, Trevor Murray, Jochen Zeil and Robert Magrath reveal that the crested pigeon has a very unusual eighth primary wing feather which produces high note when the bird starts to fly.
The researchers acknowledge that noise-making feathers are not uncommon among the world’s bird species, and some research estimates they evolved independently more that 70 times.
However, Murray and his colleagues are the first team to demonstrate that the adaptation, in crested pigeons at least, is specifically a means of non-verbal communication.
The pigeons use the noise produced by the modified feather as an alarm signal, warning other birds of the presence of predators. The sound changes in accordance with wing beat frequency, increasing in pitch as the flight urgency develops.
To make their finding, the team recorded the sound made by the oscillating eighth primary feather – a tone at 2.9 kilohertz – and played it back to birds in conditions where no other possible danger cues were present. When the sound was made, the crested pigeons all took flight.
A control experiment using noises produced by the seventh and ninth flight feathers did not produce the same results.
Murray and his colleagues note that non-verbal noise by birds was mentioned by Charles Darwin in his book on sexual selection. He called it “instrumental music” but made no suggestion about its possible purpose.
“Our results therefore indicate, nearly 150 years after Darwin’s book,” they write, “that modified feathers can be used for non-vocal communication, and they reveal an intrinsically reliable alarm signal.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
If you’d looked to the skies in Oxford, UK, during the summer of 2016 you could have been forgiven for thinking you had spotted the world’s first bionic pigeons.
The birds in question would have been members of a very special cohort trained to wear custom-designed head sensors to track how they navigated using eye movements. The results are now revealed in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Because pigeons’ eyes are fixed, they monitor their surroundings mainly by moving their head, according to lead researcher Fumihiro Kano from Kyoto University in Japan. Indeed, 90% of pigeon gazes are accompanied by head movements.
This means that head movement can be used as a proxy for where they are looking, and hence provide clues to their behaviour.
“Eyes are the window to the mind,” Kano says, explaining that gaze tells us a lot about how animals behave and think about the world.
For many years, he has been studying emotion and cognition in great apes (including bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas), Japanese monkeys, human infants, children and adults.
In 2016, he and colleagues published a study showing that apes understand when beliefs are false.
For his latest project, he thought it would be interesting to record gaze in free-moving animals, teaming up with primate biologist Dora Biro from the University of Oxford, UK, to do so.
Homing pigeons (Columba liviai) were ideal species to test in motion because they tolerate wearing custom-made masks and sensors on their head and fly back to the home loft so the data can be retrieved.
It took Kano three months to develop the special mask. Every day he rummaged through a local craft store, experimenting with different materials to create something that fitted to the pigeon’s head as stably and comfortably as possible.
The result was a device hand-made with cloths, wires and elastic bands, which he stitched and soldered together himself.
“The most important thing was to design the mask so that it did not interfere with the bird’s breathing when flying,” he explains.
The pigeons were habituated to the head units, which were continually modified until they were comfortable and the researchers were satisfied the birds could walk, take off, and fly normally while wearing them.
The masks bore an inertial measurement unit to track the bird’s head movements using a gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer. The pigeons also wore tiny backpacks containing a state-of-the-art GPS tracker, microcomputer and battery.
Altogether, 22 birds were released from a novel site for 172 solo flights, followed by 172 paired flights and 44 repeated solo flights.
The team was delighted with the outcome. Kano says the birds’ heads were extremely stable during the flights, and the data showed every detail of their movements as well as the GPS recording of the return path.
During solo flights, the pigeons undertook detailed scanning of the landscape, moving their heads “far more than necessary for manoeuvring flight,” says Kano.
When they approached landmarks such as a main road and railway line – linear structures that pigeons tend to use for constructing routes – they reduced their head movements, suggesting “that they indeed ‘see’ them to navigate.”
When they were flown in pairs, they reduced their head movements, “indicating that the flock-mate is a key visual cue that they need to pay attention to,” Kano says.
He suggests the method could be applied to understanding how pigeons use attention in the natural environment, and even to develop bio-inspired drones. Next, the team is keen to add a tiny camera into the sensor to get a bird’s eye vista of the world.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Kolkata: A youth has been lynched in Kolkata for allegedly stealing a flock of pigeons. Police have so far arrested four accused but the rest are still at large.
The lynching took place near the railway tracks at Kankurgachi on Wednesday (5 August) morning and the youth Rana Das alias Chotka (26) was declared dead at NRS Medical College and Hospital at Seladah.
According to his elder brother Rabi Das, a gang of youths from their Narkeldanga neighbourhood accused his brother of stealing pigeons from a household in the locality. As compensation for this, they demanded Rana to pay Rs 15,000.
But with Rana expressing inability to pay such a hefty sum, the youths dragged him to a spot near the railway tracks at Kankurgachi and tied him with iron chains to a pole. They then started hitting him with iron roads.
Rana soon succumbed to the torture. Hearing about him being beaten up, family members and relatives rushed to the spot and rushed him to NRS Medical College. Doctors declared Rana brought dead.
The bereaved family then lodged an FIR at Narkeldanga police station naming 12 youths. But with police making no arrests till this morning, people of the locality blocked the Maniktala Main Road for about an hour.
The public outrage eventually made police swung into action and arrest four suspects ~ Rakesh, Amit, Chinu, and David. A manhunt is on for the remaining accused.
Police said that all the suspects are associated with crimes in and around Narkeldanga-Kankurgachi area. A few of them had been arrested in other cases in the past.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Los Angeles – What: Forever 21 has reportedly hired a contractor who has been trapping pigeons at its Los Angeles headquarters, prompting PETA supporters to plan to descend on the building on Friday to urge the retailer to stop trapping the birds immediately and instead take steps to make the area unappealing to them.
When: Friday, September 7, 2 p.m.
Where: Forever 21 Headquarters, 3880 N. Mission Rd. (at the intersection of N. Mission Road and Baldwin Street), Los Angeles
The pigeon problem appears to be related to a food truck that visits the company’s parking lot. PETA has attempted to work with Forever 21, offering myriad suggestions for peacefully coexisting with the birds and discouraging their presence, including simple measures such as keeping trash contained and secured and dumpsters locked, as well as barring workers and patrons from feeding the birds—but so far, it has refused to take these steps. Trapping initiatives actually backfire, because the resultant spike in the food supply accelerates breeding among survivors and inevitable newcomers, and populations then increase.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that trapping initiatives cause animals immense suffering, as they can quickly succumb to stress, exposure, or injuries sustained in frantic attempts to escape.
“Forever 21’s decision to trap pigeons who are simply trying to eke out an existence is cruel, and such initiatives can tear wild families apart, leaving orphaned young to starve,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on the retailer to nix this methodically cruel trapping and put into motion humane coexistence measures instead.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The Hyatt hotel chain has pulled all affiliation with a downtown Edmonton hotel that was ordered by Alberta Health Services to clean up leaks and venting issues tied to pigeon feces.
The company confirmed Thursday that as of Sept. 4, the Hyatt Place Hotel – located on Jasper Avenue and 95 Street – was “no longer a Hyatt-branded or a Hyatt-affiliated property.”
The luxury hotel chain did not say why the branding was pulled or whether the move was linked to the health order issued by AHS last month.
An inspection done in late August found nine HVAC units on the roof were pulling in fresh air from an area contaminated with pigeons and pigeon feces.
The inspection also found the heating and ventilation system in the hotel was not in good working order. Issues included broken fans in the laundry room and carbon monoxide detectors in the parkade that were not calibrated.
Other issues pointed out during the inspection included extensive water staining on the ceiling tiles, light fixtures and walls throughout the lower level hallways.
In its statement Thursday, Hyatt Hotels said it is in the process of reaching out to guests with upcoming reservations. Guests with questions can contact Hyatt’s Global Reservations Center at 1-888-848-9496.
The hotel in Edmonton’s Quarters district was designed by local architect Gene Dub at a cost of $60 million. The 13-storey hotel has 258 rooms and 11,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor.
The hotel began operating in October 2016 and during the official grand opening in January 2017, was dubbed a significant milestone in the redevelopment of The Quarters.
“We wanted to create something very beautiful,” Prem Singhmar, owner of Hyatt Place Edmonton/Downtown, said at the time. “We wanted it to reflect the vision for the future of downtown and the Quarters.”
Area Councillor Scott McKeen said he didn’t know why the decision was made or what the impact on the area might be. Generally speaking, though, he said there hasn’t been enough progress in The Quarters for his liking.
“I think the area has a ton of potential but I think developers have been a little skittish because it was close to areas of the city where there was social disorder and homelessness,” he said.
The Hyatt Place was the first new hotel to open in the city’s core since 1978.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Network Rail has installed spikes on the structure to scare off the birds, which have made it their home for several years.
Most of the pigeons had flown off this week and have been perching on nearby walls, although a few have stubbornly refused to move from under the bridge.
And if history is anything to go by, there’s no betting the rest won’t return in the not too distant future.
People have moaned about the mess and the smell created by the pigeons over the years and all previous attempts to frighten them away have failed.
Back in 2007, Network Rail installed a buzzing gadget called a Wailer, but it simply scared passers by and was ignored by the birds.
So five years on and Network Rail spent £300,000 sprucing up the bridge where Station Road joins Kingston Road and putting up netting.
But the pigeons again took no notice and gradually returned to their favourite roost as the netting partially collapsed and had to be taken down.
At the time a company spokesman said: “The netting was removed as it was not as effective at deterring the pigeons as we hoped it would be. In its place we have installed ‘get off’ gel trays that are designed to prevent birds perching or roosting.” The trays also had no effect.
Meanwhile, Network Rail sent in crews last weekend to clear weeds and undergrowth in and around Taunton Station after members of Taunton Trains complained they had reached “epic proportions” and that the arrival in the town “resembles a jungle”.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Work to clear vegetation took place at Taunton Station last weekend with a focus on the areas worst affected.
“Further work is planned to maintain the tidiness of the area in and around the station.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
When they had landed back on spoil heaps left by the old alum mines at Sandsend Ness, I focused and found that a good number of the 80 or so birds sported the diagnostic white rump and black wing bars of the rock dove (Columba livia). Their blue plumage also resembled the species as illustrated in my guidebook. However, other birds in the flock ranged in colour from reddish brown to light grey, clearly hybrids that have resulted from interbreeding with other members of the dove family. These constitute the familiar city pigeons and homing pigeons. It is possible, though, that the birds I identified as rock doves were also of diluted stock. My doubt was raised by another guidebook which said that it has become almost impossible to disentangle feral from wild birds and added: “While the former can resemble and behave like wild rock doves as far south as the Yorkshire coastal cliffs, few if any are of unalloyed native stock. Those found on the remote north-western coasts of Scotland and in the outer isles are usually considered the purest examples.” However, a study of the birds at Flamborough and Bempton found that 70 per cent of the population were “blues” resembling the wild-type, while the remainder showed clear indications of domestic ancestry. That was roughly the proportion of wild to feral birds I came across last week. And after checking the admittedly imperfect photographs I managed to take of the flock I can’t really see any difference between the “blues” there and illustrations of the classic rock dove plumage. The birds have long been known to inhabit cliffs along the coast from Saltburn-by-the-Sea down to the chalk headland of Flamborough. An old North Riding name for the bird is blue dove, and on some parts of the Yorkshire coast it also became known as the cliff pigeon. Their fondness for precipices and ledges, in fact, is probably why rock dove hybrids have adapted so well to living on buildings like Leeds Town Hall and Salts Mill. The opportunistic nature of rock doves/feral pigeons is undoubtedly the secret of their success. In towns and cities the latter continue breeding well into late summer, as do rock doves on the coast. In fact, once the breeding season for seabirds like guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes is over at the cliffs of Bempton and Flamborough rock doves sometimes take over the ledges to rear another brood. Like woodpigeons, they were a reliable and cheap source of protein for centuries and kept in cages to provide food, while others were shot at several locations along the coast.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The icky-sticky problem of pigeon poop on sidewalks and even in people’s hair seems to be more widespread than we figured.
Our Saturday column about hundreds of pigeons that gather at Lawrence Ave. and Markham Rd. to gobble up food spread for them, then perch on overhead wires and rain down droppings on everything below, prompted plenty of indignation from readers.
City bylaws prohibit the feeding of wildlife — including pigeons and seagulls — in city parks and public spaces, but do not ban people from feeding them in other places, like a privately-owned parking lot.
That seems to be a sore point for readers, who directed us to other locations where pigeons are no less a problem, due to people who feed them regularly and are indifferent to the mess created by the overstuffed birds.
Jim Barrett sent us photos taken last year of a man spreading bird feed from a bucket in a parking lot at the Colony Plaza, on Lawrence, near Warden Ave., surrounded by hundreds of hovering pigeons.
One of his photos showed a flock of birds on the sidewalk in front of one of the plaza storefronts, which must be a source of frustration for shopkeepers whose customers don’t want to wade through them, or their droppings.
Francesca Vivenza said she contacted the TTC many years ago about “the many pigeons” that sit on utility wires outside Broadview station, where they bombard pedestrians beneath them.
“An old lady regularly brought bread to feed them,” she said. “One day I stopped and talked kindly to her, explaining that the pigeons are dirty, unhealthy … I got plenty of insults and left.”
Don Fairbairn said food is spread for birds at a strip mall at Markham and Eglinton Ave., which draws thousands of pigeons, and also at Bluffer’s Park, at the foot of Brimley Rd., despite rules which disallow it.
“There are signs there not to feed the wildlife, but they are ignored,” he said, adding that he has never seen evidence that the bylaw is enforced.
The best note came from Francis van Dorsser, who is also familiar with the pigeons at Markham and Lawrence and observed what could be an excellent method to keep them in check.
“This past spring I was waiting in my car for a person in the medical clinic,” in the plaza where the pigeons are fed. “All of a sudden pigeons were flying in every direction. I though of the movie, ‘The Birds.’
“A few minutes later, all was calm. Directly in front of me on a rooftop was this hawk, enjoying a pigeon feast. He had swooped in, picked up his meal and started dining.
“On the same building was a row of pigeons sitting on its edge, relieved that they were not today’s meal.”
The hawk should be commended for public service. We could use a lot more like him.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Wine, gold and art are traditional investments made by wealthy Chinese but a new and growing investment has been taking flight in recent years — racing pigeons.
The pigeons are raised in lofts and when they are deemed ready, taken hundreds of miles away and released. The first pigeon to fly back to his home, wins.
Two professional pigeon racers in China, who tried to cheat, have learned the lesson the hard way. They were given three years in jail for smuggling their animals on a bullet train to the competition’s finish line.
Two men, surnamed Gong and Zhang, entered four domesticated pigeons in the Shanghai Pigeon Association’s 16th annual Shanghai Pigeon Grand Prix for the chance to win cash prizes.
Later it was revealed that Gong and Zhang had devised an elaborate plot to win the race. The men trained the enhanced pigeons to find two designated pigeon sheds as their home, one in Shangqiu, Henan, close to the release point and another in Shanghai.
When the pigeons were released at the start of the race, they quickly flew to the home nearest to them, which was in Shangqiu. From there, the men smuggled the birds into milk cartons onto a bullet-train to Shanghai. When the men arrived in the city, they released the pigeons, which quickly fluttered to their Shanghai loft, giving the illusion that they had flown back all the way from the release point to their “home nest.
The two won the prize of 1.09 million yuan($160,00), although they reportedly declined to take it home after their win was questioned. Apparently, the two men had released the pigeons too soon from their Shanghai home nest. It takes a pigeon around 8 hours to fly from Shangqui to Shangui. However, the two smuggled pigeons made it to the finish line in just half that time since a bullet train takes only three hours and 18 minutes to travel the same distance.
Their competitors were doubtful about how the pigeons won the race. Gong and Zhang then started to lie about their birds dying or disappearing. According to the Shanghai court, the two men destroyed the evidence, killing the birds to prevent them from becoming stool pigeons.
A Shanghai court later found them guilty of fraud. The court also fined Gong 30,000 yuan and Zhang 20,000 yuan, adding that they also broke competition rules by using older pigeons instead of one-year-olds.
And if the two men had accepted the money, the court said, the fraud would have qualified as a much more serious crime and both men would have been liable to spend more than a decade in jail.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
WALNUT CREEK — Strolling the sidewalks of Broadway Plaza, you may not notice the absence of one unwelcome pest — pigeons.
That’s because of the vigilance of a 2-year-old Harris’s hawk named Remmy that patrols the plaza, scaring them away. Under the watchful eye of his handler Bridget Maguire-Colton, of Hayward, Remmy flies through the shopping plaza and parking structure on his broad wings scanning for pigeons.
Maguire-Colton, who works for The Hawk Pros, a company that uses hawk and falcons for pest control, is licensed to handle the large raptor.
Remmy patrols the plaza by flying up and around the buildings and through the cavernous parking garage scanning for pigeons. Upon landing, a little bell around his right leg, used as a locating device by Maguire-Colton, can be heard chiming as he explores the small nooks and crannies looking for roosting pigeons. To retrieve Remmy, Maguire-Colton blows a whistle, and he swoops down to land on her thick leather gauntlet and is offered a small treat.
Maguire-Colton, who has been using Remmy at the plaza for about a year and a half, says “It is far more effective than using (bird deterrent) spikes, fake owls or poisons that can harm a pigeon.” The pigeons are not just a nuisance, bird feces contains uric acid that is corrosive to metals. Rooftop nesting spots can also block gutters and could damage air conditioning units.
Using a hawk as pigeon abatement seems to be working. On a recent afternoon that Remmy spent working with his handler, no pigeons were sighted at Broadway Plaza. Even though Remmy enjoys chasing pigeons, the odds of him catching one are very low. However, the pigeons don’t know that, and the threat is real, as Remmy has gotten lucky a couple of times.
The Harris’s hawk, native to the Sonoran Desert, generally hunts rabbits, snakes and small animals that are on the ground and the hawks are typically not fast enough to catch a pigeon. Remmy, a formidable bird, with a nearly 3-foot wingspan, strong sharp talons and approximate weight of 1.5 pounds, is easy for a pigeon to spot, and once they have seen him they know to keep flying until they are clear of the plaza.
Remmy is also a sight for shoppers. When Maguire-Colton carries Remmy through the shopping plaza she becomes a falconer ambassador.
“You really do have to be PR plus falconer, it’s a bit of a balance,” she said.
With 12 years of experience, she can answer any questions people may have. Remmy, who was bred in captivity, will happily stand on Maguire-Colton’s arms, watching for pigeons while she answers questions. The only thing that ruffles Remmy’s feathers are dogs, large or small; they all look like coyotes to him.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
On Sept. 1, 1914, a legend passed in the aviary at the Cincinnati Zoo. That legend was a single pigeon, named Martha, after George Washington’s wife. Martha was the last of her kind, and with her death, the passenger pigeon became extinct.
The passenger pigeon, not to be confused with the domesticated homing pigeon, was a species of pigeon native to the Eastern United States. Once reported to be the most common bird, the species declined rapidly in the early 1900s and disappeared entirely with the death of Martha.
Some ornithologists, scientists who study birds, estimated that in their prime, passenger pigeons made up about two out of every five birds. Many historical journal entries tell tales of migrating flocks 1 mile wide blocking out the sun for hours.
IMPACT OF HUMANS
If the passenger pigeon was once so prolific, then what must have gone wrong to make the birds die off so fast? The short answer is humans. Passenger pigeons traveled in huge flocks for centuries because the larger numbers meant there were lower odds of any one pigeon being picked off, a technique called “predator satiation.” However, this adaptation is only advantageous until humans with nets, poles and guns became involved.
Passenger pigeons were seen as pests for the after effects of their migrations, easy to catch, prolific and tasty enough to be appealing to both the underclass and the elite. This combination means that when the location of a nesting flock was found, hunters would quickly arrive in the area to kill and ship off as many barrels of pigeons as possible. For a while, it seemed as though the hunting wouldn’t disrupt the pigeon population, as their numbers had barely declined.
Numbers can be deceiving, though, as years of disrupted breeding meant that almost all of the population was growing older and older with no young to replenish the flocks. Therefore, the continued pressure on the population eventually led to a sudden population crash. The last confirmed wild passenger pigeon was shot in 1901, leaving the population extinct except for those in captivity.
The sudden decline of the passenger pigeon got people’s attention, and soon legislation was being passed to protect migratory birds, as well as their nests, eggs and feathers. The 1970s brought an even larger explosion of environmental legislature. The Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, was part of a worldwide effort to add protections to endangered populations.
Later, the IUCN Red List was developed as a global way to evaluate and guide the conservation of both plants and animals. The IUCN Red List categorizes species as Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild and Extinct.
Despite passenger pigeons’ sad end, Martha has been well taken care of in her time after death. Immediately after she was found, she was packed into a 300-pound block of ice and shipped to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., where she was mounted and displayed through the 1950s. Since then, she has been protected in a locked box in the special collections area of the Smithsonian (though her internal organs are stored in an entirely different section).
Martha has made several flights since her death — to San Diego and back and then for a brief return to the Cincinnati Zoo to be displayed in a new exhibit in her name. For both of these trips, Martha flew first class with an escort — quite the upgrade from the crowded migration flights of her ancestors.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A burglary in the Bahamas and the threat of a volcano eruption on the island of Guadeloupe set in motion one of the fastest and most widespread invasions of a non-native wildlife species — a bird, in this case — witnessed in North America.
Effects on the continent’s native wildlife resulting from those two seemingly unrelated events barely 40 years ago remain unclear. But Texas dove hunters certainly have benefited. This dove season, which began Sept. 1, Texas’ 300,000 wingshooters will take more than a half-million Eurasian collared doves, a bird that didn’t exist in the state — or most of North America — just a quarter century ago but has a wild population now numbering about 5 million in the Lone Star State.
“They have turned out to be incredibly adaptable and prolific,” Owen Fitzsimmons, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s dove program director, understated in talking about the non-native collared doves that now live, nest and reproduce across the whole of this sprawling ecologically diverse state.
They also have turned out to be an unexpected but welcome bonus for the state’s wingshooters. Collared doves, with some exceptions, generally inhabit the same habitat as mourning doves and white-winged doves, the state’s most populous game birds. They also behave, fly and taste much like a larger version of those native doves, making them just as challenging and popular with Texas wingshooters. And because they are non-natives and an invasive species, collared doves are not classified as game birds, which allows unlimited take of the prolific aliens.
The first collared doves documented in Texas were seen in the northeast corner of the state in the mid-1990s. Their arrival was the then-latest frontier the birds colonized in what was becoming a fast-spreading invasion with roots in seemingly unrelated events in the Caribbean in the mid-1970s.
In 1974, burglars broke into a pet business in the Bahamas that dealt in exotic birds. The criminals opened a cage holding an estimated 50 Eurasian collared doves, and the flock went free.
Two years later, the owner of a captive flock of collared doves on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe let loose those birds before fleeing the predicted eruption of the island’s La Soufriere volcano.
Soon after, the first wild collared doves documented in North America appeared in South Florida. Those birds, experts including those at the universally respected Cornell University Lab of Ornithology deduce, originated from those two freed flocks.
This was just the latest beachhead in the species’ long history of invasion and colonization.
Eurasian collared doves are native to the Bay of Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. In the 1600s, traders brought them to the Middle East and Turkey, where they thrived. From there, they slowly spread west and north until, by the 1950s, they had colonized most of Europe.
The bird’s spread in the Americas has been much faster and prodigious.
From Florida, the birds marched — flew — north, south and west. Within only a few years of their arrival in northeast Texas in the 1990s, they had colonized the entire state and far beyond.
By 2004, Texas held what state wildlife officials then roughly estimated were “several hundred thousand” collared doves. They didn’t really have a solid figure as the birds were just popping up everywhere and the agency had no system in place to census the non-native species. But it was clear the birds were thriving in Texas.
Just slightly smaller than native white-winged doves and half the size of native mourning doves, collared doves are easily distinguished from their close relatives by their size and pale-gray coloring and the distinctive black slash on the nape of their neck that gives them their common name. They can be identified in flight by their larger size, generally slower wingbeat and their “square” tail feathering; mourning doves and whitewings have “pointed” tails.
Collared doves share many behaviors with their native relatives, including their preference for feeding on seeds — agricultural and native — in areas with low or little ground cover. It is not uncommon to see both mourning doves and collared doves feeding in the same field. Less common is to see collared doves mixed with whitewings on feeding fields. But whitewings and collared doves certainly share a trait of being comfortable nesting and roosting around human development.
“They’re a bird that does really well in suburban and some rural areas,” Fitzsimmons said, noting that collared doves, like whitewings, benefit from the expansive nesting habitat created by the large number of mature trees in urban and suburban areas and the abundance of water and forage in those settings.
Back yards beckon
Collared doves quickly find and take advantage of the millions of bird feeders in yards across Texas.
They also are especially attracted to some rural areas, particularly those around farming and ranching operations. Barns, grain storage silos and elevators, and livestock feedlots serve as larders and lodging for the Eurasian colonizers.
“Some of the biggest concentrations of collared doves in Texas are in rural areas, especially in the Panhandle around grain elevators and feedlots,” Fitzsimmons said.
That adaptability to varied habitat gives collared doves a scaly pink leg up on their native cousins.
Also to their advantage, collared doves are amazingly fecund creatures. Just as with native mourning and whitewing doves, a pair of collared doves construct a seemingly flimsy nest onto which a pair of eggs are laid. All three species are serial nesters, often making multiple nesting attempts each year. But collared doves take it to an extreme. Mourning doves and whitewings may make two or maybe three nesting attempts a year. Collared doves regularly make four nesting attempts a year and even more. Often, collared doves will begin constructing their next nest while they still have fledglings in an earlier nest.
“There’s documentation of collared doves nesting as many as six times in one year,” Fitzsimmons said.
That robust reproduction coupled with adaptability and wanderlust has seen collared doves expand their number and range in startling fashion. In less than 40 years of their arrival in North America, they had spread south to Panama, across almost the entirety of North America, including all of the contiguous United States, into southern Canada and even into Alaska. Collared doves were first documented near Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2014, where the birds spent the winter and survived.
That behavior — staying in a cold, often frozen region instead of migrating to warmer areas — appears one way collared doves differ from native doves. While mourning and whitewing doves make migratory moves to the south in autumn and winter, returning north in spring and summer, collared doves appear to forgo such annual long-distance movements. The birds appear to simply shift locations within a fairly limited region, moving only far enough to find food and suitable habitat.
Since the birds’ arrival and subsequent boom, wildlife managers have launched research and monitoring efforts to try quantifying the population and qualifying their impact or potential impact on native species. So far, that impact appears minimal. While the non-native collared doves share some habitat with native doves and obviously compete for resources, no significant detrimental effects have been discovered.
There is concern that the non-native collared doves could prove to carry and transmit Trichomonas, a the virulent avian virus or other transmissible viruses or diseases, Fitzsimmons said.
“It’s something we’re watching,” he said.
A bonus of sorts
While the ecological impact of collard doves remains unsettled, their benefit to Texas wingshooters isn’t. The birds have become a player in the state’s hunting community.
Because collared doves are a non-native species, they do not fall under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the federal law that regulates hunting of native migratory birds such as mourning and white-winged doves. Similarly, Texas state law does not classify the alien doves as game birds and their taking is not regulated. In Texas, collared doves can be legally hunted at any time and taken in any number, the same as their close cousins, feral rock doves (pigeons).
This liberal loophole allows licensed Texas hunters the latitude to take collared doves when the opportunity presents itself. Over the last several years, some hunters, especially in the Panhandle, have taken to year-round hunting of collared doves, focusing on the feedlots and other area where the big doves concentrate.
“There are even some outfitters and guides now offering collared dove hunts,” Fitzsimmons said.
But most collared doves are taken incidentally by Texas wingshooters targeting mourning or whitewing doves during the autumn hunting seasons for those birds. The collared doves are “bonus” birds for dove hunters. While the daily aggregate bag limit of mourning and whitewing during Texas general dove season is 15 birds, there is no limit on the number of collared doves that hunters can take and those collared doves do not count as part of the 15-dove daily limit.
Part of the landscape
To prevent potential issues concerning identification of the unprotected collared doves and closely regulated native doves, hunters taking collared doves are advised to not clean the birds before getting home or at least leaving a fully feathered wing on all doves so game wardens can easily identify the species.
Those collared doves are welcomed by most dove hunters, who find them just as challenging a target as the native doves and equally wonderful on the plate. And they take a lot of them.
“We estimate the annual harvest of Eurasian collared doves in Texas is now 700,000 to 800,000,” Fitzsimmons said. That’s not nearly as many as the 3 million whitewings and 5 million mourning doves that Texas hunters annual take. But it’s far from insignificant.
“They are a part of dove hunting, now, for a lot of Texas hunters,” Fitzsimmons said.
For that, Texas wingshooters can thank burglars and a volcano.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The 2018-19 general upland game bird hunting season will open in mid-September for several species in specific zones around the state, providing hunters with many opportunities to bring home some delicious table fare for the upcoming holiday season.
September openers include quail (Zone Q1 opens for mountain quail on Sept. 8, and Zone Q2 will be open for all quail on Sept. 29) sooty and ruffed grouse (general season will open in various northern and eastern counties on Sept. 8); white-tailed ptarmigan (which will open Sept. 8); and band-tailed pigeon (the northern hunt zonewill open Sept. 15).
Please note that nonlead ammunition is now required when hunting on California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Wildlife Areas and Ecological Reserves. As of July 1, 2016, the nonlead shot requirement is extended to include the take of upland game birds with a shotgun statewide, with the exceptions of dove, quail and snipe, or any upland game bird taken on a licensed game bird club. Please plan accordingly. For more information, please see the CDFW nonlead ammunition page.
Zone maps and information about daily bag limits and possession limits for each game bird species can be found on the CDFW Upland Game Bird Hunting webpage. Additional information about each species can be found below.
Quail
Quail are some of the state’s most popular native game birds. There are three species of quail found in California: California quail, mountain quail and Gambel’s quail. California quail (the state bird) are common and widespread throughout the state in low to mid-elevation brushy habitats with good cover and abundant food. Mountain quail are found in higher elevation habitats. Gambel’s quail are California’s most desert-adapted species and are found in the very arid lands of southeastern California.
The early mountain quail-only season starts on Sept. 8 in Zone Q1and continues through Oct. 19, covering much of the mountainous region of northern and eastern California. On Sept. 29, the early general quail season opens in Zone Q2 for all quail species in several north coast counties. The remainder of the state will open to quail hunting on Oct. 20 and extend through Jan. 27, 2019. Finally, an additional two-day early hunt season will be open on Oct. 6-7 in Mojave National Preserve for hunters with junior hunting licenses.
For all quail species, the daily bag limit is 10 and the possession limit is triple the daily bag. Hunters can still use lead shot for quail until July 1, 2019 unless hunting on CDFW Wildlife Areas or Ecological Reserves.
All three native species of quail are characterized by high reproductive potential associated with adequate and well-timed winter and early spring precipitation. Northern California experienced increased precipitation this spring, benefitting quail habitat and productivity. Hunters should experience good populations of quail this fall.
All three species of quail are most active in the early morning and later afternoon and move in large coveys throughout the day. Quail have distinctive calls that can provide clues to the birds’ location. Quail are more apt to run than flush, making them a more challenging game bird to hunt. Hunting dogs can be useful for locating, flushing and retrieving birds in the field.
Quail can be successfully hunted with legal gauge shotguns. A modified or improved cylinder choke is recommended to avoid damage to the bird. Because of the dense brush habitats where they are usually hunted, downed quail can be hard to find. Despite this challenge, CDFW reminds hunters that wasting game is both unethical and illegal.
CDFW estimates that in the 2016-2017 season, 51,281 hunters bagged 320,913 quail over the course of 184,541 hunter-days. Not surprisingly, California quail is the most frequently bagged of the three species.
Forest Grouse
California has two species of native forest-dwelling grouse: the sooty grouse and the ruffed grouse. Sooty grouse occur in the Sierra Nevada, Cascade and northern coast ranges while the ruffed grouse is restricted to the northwestern part of the state. The general hunting season for both species extends from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8 this year. For sooty and ruffed grouse, the daily bag limit is two (both of one species or mixed species) and possession limit is triple the daily bag.
Although they are fairly large birds, grouse camouflage themselves well and generally hold tight to their location even when hunters are nearby. They flush quickly and fly off in a zigzag pattern, requiring a quick and accurate response from a hunter. Dogs are useful companions to help hunters find, flush and retrieve bagged grouse. Nonlead shot is required for all grouse statewide.
Ptarmigan
The white-tailed ptarmigan is a non-native grouse that was introduced by CDFW to the Sierra Nevada in the early 1970s. This is the smallest species of ptarmigan and the only one found in California. They inhabit the high elevation alpine habitats at low densities from Sonora Pass in Tuolumne County to Kings Canyon National Park.
Hunting these birds can be challenging because of the high elevation and steep terrain. Hunting is permitted from Sept. 8-16. The daily bag limit is two per day and the possession limit is two per season. Hunters should prepare for difficult hiking conditions and be familiar with the area before heading out after this game bird. Nonlead shot is required for hunting ptarmigan.
Band-tailed Pigeon
The band-tailed pigeon is California’s only native pigeon and is a close relative of the extinct passenger pigeon. They look similar to the introduced domestic or rock pigeons that frequent urban areas. Band-tailed pigeons are often found in mountainous terrain throughout the state, using coniferous forests as well as oak woodlands, but populations are migratory and movements can be unpredictable. The federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) estimates that in 2017, 2,500 hunters spent 5,600 days afield in California and harvested 5,600 band-tailed pigeons.
The northern California hunt zone season runs from Sept 15-23. The daily bag limit is two and the possession limit is triple the daily bag. The southern hunt zone does not open until December. Nonlead shot is required for band-tailed pigeons statewide.
CDFW reminds hunters that an upland game bird stamp is required for licensed adult hunters (18 years and older) but not for hunters with a valid junior hunting license. A HIP validation is also required to hunt band-tailed pigeons.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
One of the best places for pigeons is at Markham Rd. and Lawrence Ave., where a perpetual buffet of birdie num num is on the menu.
It is also a bad place to be a pedestrian or a TTC rider. After they dine, the birds roost on overhead utility wires to digest their meal and then deposit wet, smelly droppings on the sidewalk and people below.
We’ve had several complaints over the past few years about the hundreds of pigeons drawn to the southwest corner of the busy intersection by food scattered across a parking lot.
The bird lovers’ hearts are in the right place, but the mess created by the huge number of pigeons attracted to the food is the bane of people who catch the bus at a TTC stop on the corner.
A reader told us he’s been twice bombed on his way to the TTC stop, adding that he’s heard it’s a sign of good luck to be pooped on by a bird but doesn’t believe it.
“They sit on the wires and s– on everything below,” said the reader, who asked not to be named. “One time I could see it falling in front of me, like it was raining bird s–.”
We’ve gone there several times and seen hundreds of pigeons and a few seagulls pecking at seed in the parking lot, while others that had finished dining roosted wing-to-wing on wires on the east side of Lawrence, waiting to drop a surprise on a hapless victim.
The sidewalk below the wires had a residue of guano on it, but we thought it would have been much worse. Plentiful rainfall over the past few weeks has likely washed away some of it.
Dumped next to a concrete barrier on the north side of the parking lot was a huge pile of stale white bread cut into pieces — enough to fill a couple big garbage bags — along with several pounds of white rice.
The situation raises a couple questions, like who’s doing it and what can be done, if anything, to stop them.
STATUS: We asked the city if any rules prohibit the feeding of birds. City spokesperson Angelica Santos sent us an email that said “feeding wildlife can increase the population of wild animals in a community and cause the animal to lose its natural fear of people.” Yeah, but we’re talking about pigeons, not raccoons or bears. Santos went on to cite bylaws that say “a person feeding wildlife in a public area can be fined by the city, if the person is observed by an officer throwing waste.” In other words, unless a bylaw enforcement officer stakes out the parking lot and catches someone feeding them, there are no repercussions. We also found a page on the city’s website that says “there are no specific bylaws that restrict the feeding of wildlife outside of a city park.” Since the feeding is done in a private parking lot, it looks the feeders are home free.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
