by johnnymarin | Sep 13, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 12, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 11, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 10, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 9, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 8, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 7, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 6, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 5, 2018 | Animal Deterrent Products
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 4, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 3, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
At Tuesday’s regular meeting of Town Council Manager of Planning and Land Development, Ashley Bilodeau will ask council to consider passing a by-law to prohibit the feeding and attracting of pigeons in town.
In a report Bilodeau will present to council, she writes “The pigeon population is increasing in the Town – Pigeons mate for life and pair can breed up to 12 ledglings per year. Staff have increasing been receiving calls and emails from residents asking for help ith neighbours who are feeding the pigeons, encouraging the flock to flourish and remain in the area.
Pigeon feces are highly acidic and so corrosive that it can cut a roof’s average life span in half.
Resident’s property is being damaged.
Orkin Canada gives the following tips for prevention and control:
· Eliminate sources of food, including bird feeders intended for other species
· Repair and seal any damage to the exterior of buildings where they can build nests
· Place fake/statuettes of predatory birds near ledges
· Create an unwelcome environment with loud noises and/or water sprays to scare them away
To this end, Staff is asking Council to consider a bylaw to prohibit feeding and attracting of pigeons.”
Her report goes on to say “Public comments were received from two individuals; one of which was supportive of the new By-law, the other was concerned about whether it can be enforced appropriately. In order to ticket someone,
they would have to be in the act of feeding a pigeon. Her recommendation was to place emphasis on enforcing the buildings and/or structures that encourage nesting/roosting.
Staff also met with the Timiskaming Health Unit (THU) to discuss the health concerns related to pigeons. From their standpoint, pigeons are not a health problem. There would need to be several
inches of droppings in a very restricted area in order for it to pose a health concern. They insist that feeding restrictions do help, however the enforcement must be focused on the places they reside.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 2, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
Cheating their way to a one million yuan prize, two Chinese competitors in a domestic homing pigeon race smuggled their birds on a high-speed train, taking home the top prize.
The racers, surnamed Gong and Zhang, took part in the annual competition held by Shanghai Racing Pigeon Association (SRPA) last May, Chinese news outlet Legal Daily reports. The race invited people to send their one-year-old birds in a long distance flying challenge starting from central China’s Henan Province to Shanghai in east China, a course covering over 600 kilometers.
A total of 5,850 pigeons took off from the start line in Henan’s Shangqiu City in the morning of May 1. Gong’s and Zhang’s birds were among the competitors. All participants were tagged with a tracking device that timed their flight, and their results would be announced online once the birds reached the destination.
Participating pigeons were required to wear a tracking ring. /Shanghai Morning Post Photo
At around 4:30 p.m., the first pigeon touched the finish line, with the winner breaking the existing record. The bird belonged to Zhang. Within the next hour, another three birds arrived at the goal, all belonging to either Zhang or Gong.
Shocked and baffled, many pigeon racers soon started questioning the results, especially after they discovered that Zhang’s and Gong’s birds covered longer distances with shorter times, Shanghai Morning Post reported last year.
Receiving complaints from multiple participants, SRPA initiated an investigation towards the first 1,000 birds returning to Shanghai and reported the case to the police.
Pigeons qualified for the race were stamped after SRPA’s investigation. /Shanghai Morning Post Photo
When the organization contacted Gong and Zhang, both racers claimed that their birds were already lost or dead. They later voluntarily gave up the cash prizes which totaled over a million yuan (approximately 146,000 US dollars).
The two were later arrested by the police for investigation and confessed they had cheated during the race and killed the winner pigeons.
Gong told police that they had trained the pigeons before the race to fly to a rally point near the starting line. Their plan was to collect the birds during the race and smuggle them back to Shanghai via high-speed train.
Their plan worked. But fearing their fowl play would result in serious legal consequences, Gong and Zhang chose to give up the prizes.
The duo each received a three-year suspended sentence, Legal Daily reported the court’s decision on Monday. A district-level court in Shanghai fined Gong, the criminal mastermind 30,000 yuan (4,400 US dollars) and Zhang 20,000 yuan (2,900 US dollars).
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Sep 1, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Martha died Sept. 1, 1914. She was the last of her species, the last passenger pigeon.
Passenger pigeons were once the most numerous bird in North America. Estimates range from 3 billion to 5 billion passenger pigeons in North America when the Europeans first reached the New World.
The scientific name Ectopistes migratorius combines the Greek word for wander and the Latin word for the one who migrates.
This species wandered over a huge range of eastern and midwestern forests and western prairies — from Texas into Canada, almost to Hudson’s Bay. It roamed from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River Valley and up along the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountain Front, as well as north into Canada. A few even crossed the Rocky Mountains.
Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition recorded in their journals seeing the passenger pigeon, even eating a few, along the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in what became Montana.
While pairs and small flocks were once common in Montana, in the East and as far west as Minnesota and Missouri, the bird once roosted and nested in the hundreds of thousands, even in the hundreds of millions.
“When these roosts are first discovered, the inhabitants from considerable distances visit them in the night, with guns, clubs, long poles, pots of sulphur, and various other engines of destruction,” bird illustrator Alexander Wilson described the scene of a slaughter in Kentucky in the first decade of the nineteenth century.
As settlers pushed westward, cutting the trees and draining the wetlands, the pigeons lost nesting and roosting sites. No matter where the birds migrated, local people and market hunters tracked and slaughtered them.
The railroad and telegraph made it easy to learn where the birds were and to bring the market hunters, both shooters and netters. The market hunters shipped the product — barrels of pigeon or coops of live pigeons — by train on a national market.
Pigeons were here in Montana when beavers still built dams that created the pools and meadows moistened the plains; before trappers removed the beavers. Pigeons were here when the trees lining the Missouri River and tributary streams were cut to fuel steamships moving up and down the river. Removing beavers and trees exposed soil to drying and eroding, and destroyed habitat used by the pigeons.
In September 1881 “numerous” pigeons were reported in several locations in Custer County, and the following September the Army telegraph operator at Fort Benton returned from a day’s hunt with 12 passenger pigeons.
Then the birds disappeared from Montana.
In 1892 the state’s largest newspaper, The Anaconda Standard, reported that the passenger pigeon had been “utterly exterminated” in Montana.
Market hunters get a lot of the blame. But accessories were the organizers of shooting competitions who bought pigeons by the coop off the national market, up to 25,000 live birds, for major shoots out East. Organizers in Montana bought fewer birds, but they bought live passenger pigeons; for example, the Montana Territorial Fair of 1873 featured a trapshoot with live birds.
As the passenger pigeon declined in number, gun clubs turned to shooting newly invented glass balls and later clay pigeons, particularly Remington’s popular “blue rock” brand, as well as live pigeons raised in coops rather than wild passenger pigeons.
Extinction is forever. As The Anaconda Standard reported in 1899, “Gone, forever gone — the wild pigeon, a fable and a romance.”
Let’s conserve the remaining wild flora and fauna of Montana. Let’s do it for ourselves and future generations.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 31, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
The borough mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve says there are no plans to remove a family of pigeons living inside a traffic light outside a bustling Metro station.
The birds have built their nest in the window of the traffic light that alternately flashes the walking sign and the stop sign. The traffic light is in between a Metro station and a bus station and attracts a lot of foot traffic.
It’s unclear how many pigeons are living in the nest, however, they have been there since at least July 2. The nest appears to have grown so large that some of the materials used to build the nest are spilling out onto the sidewalk.
The borough mayor says there are “no specific plans” to remove the birds.
“I like [the nest] quite a lot,” Mayor Pierre Lessard-Blais told CBC via text message.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 30, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Chicago pigeon racing fans won’t see their birds come home to roost as fast as they hoped.
An ordinance to let breeders of homing pigeons keep them in lofts in Chicago was held in committee Monday. The measure’s sponsor, Northwest Side Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said opponents of the idea made their voices heard after he introduced it last month.
“I’m going to have a meeting with both sides and hopefully come up with a compromise,” Villegas said.
Pigeon racing is “deeply loved in Poland,” Villegas said when he brought forward the plan. He was joined in sponsoring it by fellow Northwest Side Aldermen Ariel Reboyras, 30th, and Nick Sposato, 38th.
The ordinance would let breeders of “pedigreed rock doves” keep the birds at their homes in lofts “that are inspected and certified on a regular basis to ensure the birds are kept in clean, sanitary and healthy conditions.”
The City Council outlawed homing pigeons in residential areas in 2004 after people living near residents who kept the birds complained about getting “splattered” when they tried to hang out laundry or sunbathe. At the time, pigeon supporters said their pets are unfairly derided as “rats with wings.”
Members of Chicago racing clubs went to federal court, but in 2005 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge upheld an earlier district court ruling that found the city was within its rights to ban racing pigeons as pets.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 29, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Thousands of Teesside racing pigeons took flight for an unusual commemoration of the end of the First World War .
During the 1914-18 conflict, pigeons were used to fly crucial messages back home from the fields of conflict.
And at the weekend, about 9,000 North-east pigeons – including 2,500 from Teesside – recreated those journeys by winging their way from Ypres in Belgium to their home lofts back in Britain.
After being “liberated” at 6.30am on Sunday, July 22, the fastest of all 9,000, flying home in 6hrs 45 minutes, was a pigeon belonging to the Bowden brothers, Mick and Trevor, of Skelton Green . And the winning bird’s name? Brexit – of course!
The race was organised by the Hartlepool-based Up North Combine, which is the UK’s largest racing organisation.
And president John Thompson said the Ypres event was a fitting way to recognise the invaluable contribution pigeons made in the First World War.
He said: “Thousands of pigeons played a crucial role in the Great War – carrying life-saving messages over enemy lines and later even being awarded medals for bravery.
“A number of pigeons were honoured, including one of the most well-known, Pigeon 2709, who, in 1917, was sent to deliver a crucial message back to headquarters when he came under enemy fire and was shot in the leg. A 20 mile flight took 21 hours, but he got the message home before dying the next day.
“With the advantages of communication technology today, it is easy to forget that homing pigeons were often the difference between life and death for First World War service men and women.”
Said to be one of the toughest birds on the planet – voluntarily flying more than 20,000 miles a year – the birds used their natural instincts, following landmarks by aerial recognition, as well as their sense of smell, to ensure messages were safely delivered.
And it was that natural instinct which ensured about 80% of those taking part at the weekend reached home the same day, with the rest landing on Monday.
Sunday’s race came four years after a similar event held to mark the centenary of the start of World War One.
Winners, nationally and regionally, were awarded medals and diplomas symbolising the Dickin Medals for gallantry handed out to 62 animals – including 32 pigeons – during World Wars One and Two.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 28, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Last week’s editorial correctly states that, unlike the national tabloids, the Sussex Express has preserved an even-handed approach throughout these turbulent times. However I must take issue with the editor’s statement that those voting Leave ‘voted knowing that they would be worse off but clearly decided that was a price worth paying’. This is demonstrably untrue – every time the deleterious consequences of leaving the EU were pointed out the immediate response was – Project Fear! No attempt was ever made to respond to these legitimate concerns. Instead the Leave campaign pictured a rosy fantasy of an impossible future which is now dissolving in the light of reality. The words “pigeons” “home” and “roost” come to mind.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 27, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
PIGEONS who have made themselves at home under Clemens Street railway bridge will be flying the nest if campaigners get their way.
The bridge was previously fitted with netting but birds kept becoming trapped and dying after holes were not repaired.
After a public outcry some two years ago, the netting was removed.
But the Green Party says those walking or cycling under the bridge have being dodging pigeon poo ever since.
Now it is calling on Warwick District Council and Network Rail to fix the problem and is campaigning for change.
Amy Evans, who is spearheading the campaign, said: “This has gone on long enough. For over two years we’ve been pushing the council and Network Rail to sort this out, possibly by putting a metal mesh in place, but they’ve failed to take action.
“People should be able to walk up this busy street without risk of pigeon poo.”
A spokeswoman for Network Rail said the company plans to install metal netting next year.
She said: “Wherever possible Network Rail works with local authorities to discourage pigeons from perching or nesting on railway bridges.
“We plan to install netting to the railway bridge in Clemens Street by summer next year. We have to prioritise our work to keep the railway running safely and reliably. We understand the inconvenience to pedestrians and will install the netting as soon as possible.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 26, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
The pigeon waste situation on West 231st Street and Broadway is not only unsightly, it could be a health hazard.
It’s either someone invents diapers for pigeons, or those responsible for cleaning up that area near the elevated tracks do a much better job of cleaning up that unsightly mess.
People bringing that stuff, which may cling to the bottoms of their shoes, could be brought home and deposited on the floors or carpet, and cause serious health issues.
If you don’t believe me, Google it!
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Aug 25, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
A tiny, blue chick from the biggest species of pigeon in the world has just hatched at Chester Zoo.
The Victoria crowned pigeon baby is already walking alongside its blue-and-purple mother in its enclosure.
Posting footage of the little chick on Facebook, Chester Zoo said: “Bright blue, rocking the best mowhawk and already strutting its funky stuff!”
Mark Vercoe, assistant curator of birds, said: “Along with the Nicobar pigeon and the tooth-billed pigeon, the Victoria crowned pigeon is a descendant of the dodo – a bird that has been famously lost from the planet because of the actions of humans.
“Hopefully this chick can help us to highlight how important it is that we act for wildlife now; we cannot possibly let these beautiful birds go the same way as their extinct cousins.”
Native to Indonesia and New Guinea, the chick already boasts a crown of lacy feathers on its head.
The species, which is listed as vulnerable to extinction, is supposedly named after Queen Victoria, who had a penchant for wearing elaborate, feathered headwear.
The baby pigeon will be similar to the size of a turkey when fully grown.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
