by johnnymarin | Aug 24, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
A 41-year-old garage owner threatened to burn his next door neighbour’s house down after he believed their cat had attacked one of his beloved racing pigeons, a court heard.
Behzad Shuwani used racist language against his neighbours in Gloucester during his tirade of abuse.
Judge Michael Harington heard from prosecutor, Robert Morgan-Jones, that there had been ‘historic tensions’ between Shuwani and his neighbours in Jersey Road before the incident on February 8 this year.
Shuwani was subject to a suspended jail term at the time of this incident, the prosecutor explained.
He had been sentenced in September last year for running what was described by the judge as a ‘cannabis factory’ at his car workshop on Jersey Road.
Shuwani pleaded guilty to racially aggravated public order and simple public order offences during the incident in February.
He also admitted that by committing those offences he was in breach of the earlier suspended sentence imposed for drug cultivation at his business.
Gloucester Crown Court heard that the victim, 70-year-old Abdulkadir Susiwala, was at his home when he heard noises outside at about 10.30am.
When he looked out of the first floor window of his property he could see Shuwani next door with a can of paint thinners shouting about Mr Susiwala’s cat attacking one of his racing pigeons.
The court heard Shuwani said: “I am going to burn all of you, and your house, and your cat!”
The police were called, and they could hear shouting in the background of the 999 call, the prosecutor said.
When they arrived Shuwani was ‘immediately aggressive’, and shouted towards racist language towards Mr Susiwala’s home.
Mr Morgan-Jones said the thinners were seized from the property and Shuwani had a lighter on his person when searched.
The court heard a victim statement from Mr Susiwala, who said he believed Shuwani would carry out his threats.
The family said they are worried about going outside their property, and are concerned about any further future problems with Shuwani, who arrived in the UK in 1997 from the Kurdish region of Iraq.
Representing Shuwani, Mark Sharman described it as ‘an unfortunate situation’.
“They do not get on. They do not see eye to eye,” the barrister said.
However he accepted “his words and behaviour were utterly inappropriate”.
Mr Sharman argued this was the first incident despite tensions over the last five years, and there had been no repeat.
“The defendant believed the complainant’s cat had attacked one of his pigeons,” Mr Sharman said.
“He owns approximately 100 racing pigeons. That is very important to him. That reaction though, was deeply inappropriate.”
“For obvious reasons the [racist] language he used was not acceptable,” Mr Sharman told the judge.
Mr Sharman argued it was a “spur of the moment reaction to something that had been bubbling under for some time”.
“I make it clear, I lay no blame at the door of the complainant,” Mr Sharman said, and urged the judge to consider a further suspended sentence.
The judge said: “I am persuaded it would be unjust to activate the suspended sentence you are subject to.
“The old offence was planned, and this was heat of the moment, and entirely different.”
Shuwani was given 15 months jail suspended for two years and ordered to attend 20 rehabilitation activity sessions and complete 120 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the community.
A restraining order to protect Mr Susiwala and his family was imposed for five years.
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 23, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
In between the serious task of judging Waikato’s best pigeons, Kelly Bray found time to rewrite history.
“The Bible talks about Noah throwing out a dove, but a dove would have buggered off,” Bray reckons.
“It would have been a homing pigeon.”
Hours before the doors opened on the Waikato Poultry & Pigeon Club’s 116th annual show, Bray and fellow judges were busy attaching labels to the winning birds’ cages.
While judging prized poultry and pigeons is all about how the birds look and present, the show itself is a smorgasbord of sounds – and smells.
For anyone unaccustomed to being surrounded by hundreds of birds in one space, it can be quite an experience.
Bray travelled from Queenstown to help judge this year’s pigeon line-up at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion.
Spend a few minutes talking to any of the show’s judges, however, and you soon realise the job is anything but a chore.
“I entered my first show as a 12 year old in 1971 and I’ve been hooked ever since. As a kid, I always loved birds, but there was something about pigeons that just drew me to them. Breeding pigeons is a very tactile experience. You’re always holding them.”
About 100 fanciers entered chickens, ducks and pigeons into this year’s show.
Poultry and pigeon breeding is also subject to trends.
A popular breed at the moment is the Silkie chicken, due to its friendly, placid nature and expert mothering skills, club president Fiona Taylor said.
Among the dazzling array of pigeon breeds on display, the majestic Jacobin threatened to steal the show.
The breed, which originates from Asia, is notable for the feathered hood over its head. It was a personal favourite of Queen Victoria.
Taylor keeps Jacobin pigeons and said the breed’s numbers were on the increase after nosediving about a decade ago.
“Shows like this are our shopfront and we do a lot of work promoting breeds and the hobby to the general public,” Taylor said.
“We’re no longer allowed to bring new birds into the country, so if a breed falls into the hands of too few, we risk losing them forever. All these birds are essentially heritage breeds and it’s up to us to encourage and inspire people to own and breed them.”
With the show’s judging complete, a male black-splashed Jacobin was deemed the best in his class.
Bray said the young bird’s feathered hood was especially impressive.
“The feathers are thick and uniform. The bird also has a presence and shows itself well. Often when you’re judging pigeons, you’re trading off faults between birds. This is a beautiful bird and clearly it’s quite happy to hold it all together.”
Taylor said the annual show was moved to the Hamilton Gardens in an effort to attract a wider range of visitors.
The show had also been shifted to July to coincide with the school holidays.
The show runs from 9am to noon on Sunday.
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 22, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
The first aerial photograph was taken in 1858 by Frenchman Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, also known by his alias Nadar, from a tethered gas balloon suspended over Paris. While the images captured on this flight have since been lost to time, there are plenty of surviving examples of aerial photographs shot during the latter half of the 19th century. In addition to balloons, kites and rudimentary rockets were used to send cameras skyward. Even Alfred Nobel was drawn to the practice, with one of his last patent applications being for a method for rocket photography. It’s hard to grasp how challenging this was at the time. We need only load up Google Earth to see our house from space, or buy a hobbyist drone to capture our own aerial panoramas. Long before satellites and quadcopters, though, Dr. Julius Neubronner started strapping cameras to pigeons.
Julius Neubronner was an apothecary, which to his time was the equivalent of a pharmacist today. It was a family business, and homing pigeons were counted amongst its employees. Just as his father had done before him, Neubronner used pigeons to send and receive medicines and messages. As the story goes, sometime around 1903 Neubronner sent one of his pigeons out on assignment only for it not to return. The bird wasn’t taken ill and preyed upon, however, eventually turning up a month later in suspiciously good condition.
Neubronner grew curious about the movement and habits of his pigeons when they were away from home, and being an avid photographer, he saw how his hobby might be useful in answering some of his questions. Inspired in part by the Ticka Watch Camera and the quality of test photos he took on a speeding train and a sled ride, he began devising his own miniature camera that could be attached to pigeons via a harness. What he ended up with was a light wooden camera and pneumatic timer that engaged the shutter at set intervals. He filed the first patent for his invention in 1907 with the German patent office and its counterparts in France, Austria and the UK. The German bureau initially refused to grant it, believing what he described to be impossible. A camera was far too heavy for a bird to carry. This changed the following year when Neubronner provided the patent office with photographic proof from his flying friends.
Between 1908 and 1909, Neubronner’s pigeon camera was covered in various newspapers, including the New-York Daily Tribune, The Columbian, the Los Angeles Heraldand Northern Star (based in New South Wales, Australia). The inventor gained further notoriety in 1909 when he appeared at the International Photographic Exhibition in Dresden and International Aviation Exhibition in Frankfurt, as well as the Paris Air Show in 1910 and 1911. He won various awards at these events, but also seized a commercial opportunity. Visitors could watch the arrival of his flock, and from his horse-drawn dovecote and compact darkroom, he would develop the images his pigeon cameras had just taken and sell them as postcards.
Not only was it a strange spectacle, but a notable advancement in aerial photography. Previous methods were elaborate, requiring complicated equipment and setup. The pigeon camera was small, elegant and mobile. To Neubronner, it wasn’t just a hobby or a commercial novelty; he saw potential military applications in reconnaissance and surveillance as well. Despite some logistical issues, most notably getting pigeons to return to a dovecote that by necessity had to move around, Neubronner gained the interest of the Prussian War Ministry.
In order to demonstrate their worth, Neubronner photographed a waterworks in Tegal, Germany, using only his birds, and was due to negotiate a state purchase of his invention in the summer of 1914 after a trial run in Strasbourg for the military’s benefit. But just weeks prior, World War I broke out and he was forced to turn over his pigeons and cameras to the state before striking a deal. The birds were initially used for reconnaissance, apparently with some success, but were soon demoted to message carriers, which was seen as a more valuable post during the drawn-out conflict. Neubronner’s dovecote was present at the Battle of Verdun, and proved so useful that pigeon messengers were drafted in in bigger numbers at the Battle of the Somme.
After the war, however, the military told Neubronner it wasn’t inclined to pursue the invention on account of it having limited value. While still pretty ingenious, pigeon photographers weren’t without their shortcomings. You had no control over what the cameras captured, nor could you guarantee the birds would return, whether that be down to moving the dovecote location or a well-placed bullet. And though it was only a decade and change since the Wright brothers first took flight, during World War I aerial combat and surveillance through photography had evolved rapidly. Though sending pigeons behind enemy lines was better than sending people, we’d already found a better way.
Incidentally, camera-equipped pigeons were going to be added to Battlefield 1 through a DLC expansion, but never made it into the gameafter the spotting mechanic was deemed overpowered.
Neubronner apparently developed a dozen or more designs of his pigeon camera, including versions with multiple lenses and a panoramic model, which is on display at a few museums in Germany. His final iteration weighed just over 1.4 ounces (40 grams) and was good for 12 exposures, but after dedicating more than a decade of work to his pigeon cameras, they never became more than a celebrated oddity.
His legacy doesn’t end there, though. Around the time of Neubronner’s death in 1932, the German army revisited the idea, creating a pigeon camera that could take 200 pictures per flight. The French had a concurrent program that used not one, but two animals. Pigeons carried the cameras, and dogs ferried the birds behind enemy lines before releasing them on their mission.
A Swiss clockmaker, Christian Adrian Michel, also went about improving upon Neubronner’s designs in the early 1930s, specifically adapting his panoramic model to use 16mm film and creating a clockwork exposure timer. He patented his innovation in several European countries in 1937, but only roughly 100 cameras were produced after his plan to sell it to the Swiss Army fell through. There’s little evidence to suggest pigeon cameras were used a great deal in World War II, but the Soviets came across abandoned German trucks in 1942 containing pigeon cameras and dogs trained to ferry the birds in baskets.
You would think that by 1970, aerial surveillance techniques would have rendered the pigeon camera obsolete, but trust the CIA to revive the invention decades later. The agency developed a battery-powered version, though the operations it was involved in remain classified. It’s said they weren’t employed with great success, however, leading the CIA to abandon the lo-fi spying project.
Camera and aircraft technology had come on significantly at this point, and soon after in the 1980s, the first unmanned drones fitted with cameras were developed. And by this time, there were already orbiting satellites capable of sending back real-time imagery. Now, of course, all of this technology is available to the public, not to mention the YouTube videos of eagles flying around with GoPro backpacks. In a happier timeline, though, perhaps pigeons are still entrusted with the job, going about their daily hunt for sidewalk fries while also updating photography for Google Maps.
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 21, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Over the last several years, Liz Beukema and her 15-year-old son Garrett have spent many early mornings together in their backyard, on the road in their family car and at ice cream shops throughout the St. Croix Valley. Those long hours have been spent bonding over their mutual love for pigeons, which the pair race and breed at their home southeast of New Richmond.
“My grandfather sent me pigeons for my birthday (when I turned 8), since I was really into Harry Potter and I wanted an owl to bring me my mail,” Garrett said. “I really enjoyed racing and everything that went with it. That got me into the breeding side of things.”
At the age of 9, Garrett was releasing pigeons at weddings, but he only got into breeding pigeons in 2012.
“Quite by accident, I was taking a class through Extension and met a lady from Frederic, Wis., and we got chatting … and she and her husband are racing pigeon breeders. It turns out they are one of the premiere breeders in the world and they are right in our backyard,” Liz said.
The Frederic couple invited Garrett up to their facility and gifted him seven pigeons to start up his breeding operations and racing team. Garrett joined a local pigeon racing club in 2012. He started racing pigeons in 2013, with Liz following her son into the racing world in 2014. According to Liz, pigeon racing is one of the oldest sports in the world and is big in Europe, which is where most of the racing pigeons come from.
“It has been pretty fun and interesting to find which of our birds produce the best offspring. It has taken a lot of time to do that since you can’t just judge how well a pair will do based on how their offspring do one year. You have to put that pair back together again the next year. If they produce good babies then again, you know that pair is good together, so we will continue to breed that pair,” Garrett said.
In total, the Beukemas have 200 pigeons, including show varieties, which Garrett shows for 4-H. They have a 70-bird young team and 51 birds on their old bird team. Garrett has shown both Racing Homer and several breeds of fancy show pigeons at the last six St. Croix County Fairs, while his little sister, Lillian, has shown her Valencian Figurita pigeons at the fair the last two years. Garrett has won Grand Champion pigeon for two years at the Wisconsin State Fair.
“We knew that Garrett was hooked on birds when we took him to Harry Potter World and, while our daughters were going nuts about everything around them, Garrett pointed out a recessive red, which is kind of rare, to me,” Liz said. “We knew he had it bad then.”
According to Liz, her whole family has the bird bug, given that her father is a peacock breeder in upstate New York and her brother breeds heritage breed chickens in Vermont.
“Pigeons are absolutely amazing animals and are one of the top 10 smartest animals in the world. When they lay eggs, they co-parent, which means the males and females each sit on the eggs to incubate them the same amount of time,” Liz said. “The males and females also take equal part in feeding the young. We say humans could learn a lot from pigeons. They even go and feed other babies if they are left alone and are crying. It is just really crazy to watch their behavior.”
According to the Beukemas, there are short distance and long distance racing pigeons, since races can be anywhere from 100 to 600 miles in length. There are two seasons of racing: young birds — which are birds that have hatched that year — which are generally flown in races of no more than 300 miles, and old birds — which are over 1 year in age. The old bird season goes from April to July, while the young bird season starts shortly after old bird season ends.
“Your birds that excel at 200 miles aren’t necessarily going to be the birds that are going to excel at 600 miles. People breed for different distances, with certain strains, body types and wing shapes that are good for long distances and some that are good for sprints, or short distances,” Liz said. “For those short races for the young birds, you don’t really need a distance bird for that. You want a sprinter that is going to mature quickly and perform in its first year.”
Finding their rhythm
With several years of racing and breeding under their belts, Liz and Garrett said they are finally hitting their stride in the sport, with Garrett currently owning the top three champion birds on the Wisconsin side of the river in the Heartland Federation.
There are three tiers of competition in pigeon racing for the Beukemas, including their local club, the Indianhead Combine, which includes all of the Wisconsin clubs; and the Heartland Federation, which combines the Minnesota and Wisconsin results. Race winners have the best average speed (measured in yards per minute) rather than the pigeon that makes it home quickest, given that the owners all live in different areas and the birds have different distances to cover to get home. The results are then calculated starting at sundown the second day.
“It is fun, it is a whole community of people and it is a great family sport,” Liz said. “The whole family is out here wanting to know if mom or Garrett won. Garrett and I spent so much time together in the car and the loft.
“Five or six years into it, we are still trying to implement everything new we are learning every day and making sure that it works into our system. So it does take some time for things to come to fruition and to see the success.”
The Beukemas started to see success after switching to an all natural system for their birds last year, which includes more natural supplements and probiotics between races and less medication. The change resulted in the pair having one of their best seasons to date in both the old and young bird categories.
“All of these years up to this point, we have been working to find a system that we liked and worked for us. And now we have found that system and we have been doing really well,” Garrett said.
In addition to owning the top three champion birds on the Wisconsin side of the river, Garrett is also winning quite handily in the average speed category, which includes races under 300 miles. The next closest speed average behind him is 38 minutes behind him, Liz said. He also has a handy lead in champion bird, which is not a position the pair have ever found themselves in before.
“We are not only trying to finish out the season well, but we are also trying to keep that bird and the team average up the rest of the season. We are planning which races we are going to choose and which birds we are going to send on the team every week,” Liz said. “We have never had to strategize like this before since we have never won this much before.”
A typical day for Garrett and his mother during the school year sees the two of them getting up at 5 a.m. or earlier to get the birds into crates so Liz can take them to work with her and let them fly home from there. On some days, Liz can driver farther out and release them to give them more of a challenge.
On the day of a race, the pigeons are released all at once half an hour after sunrise the next morning. The owners then wait for their birds to return the next morning.
“It is kind of like a marathon where you do a 12-mile run one day and then go and do a 20-mile run the next. We don’t ever drive 300 miles to train, but we go to Ellsworth a lot, which is 22 miles from here. It is 37 from Prescott and 12 from my office. We kind of work them through a training regiment,” Liz said. “And it has to be sunny for them to fly so we have to watch the weather to plan out the rest of the week.”
Garrett plans to continue racing and breeding pigeons until he heads to college. After he gets out of college, he plans to take the sport back up as soon as he can and sees himself racing and breeding pigeons with his own children in the future.
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 20, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
SINGAPORE – Residents of Block 390, Bukit Batok West Avenue 5 have raised concerns after some 15 birds were found either dead or dying at their void deck on Thursday (July 19).
Residents told The Straits Times the birds that were still alive were fighting to move and gasping for air. Policemen had arrived and cordoned off the area last night.
The birds included pigeons and other species.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is investigating.
Madam Julie Harichand, 57, a housewife, said she was on her way home at about 3.30 pm when she saw the birds scattered around the void deck. Some were still alive. She said she and a group of 10 residents then carried the birds and placed them together.
She said: “I think someone must have poisoned the birds. Those that were alive kept trying to fly and failing. We gathered the birds together so we could give them water, and while doing so we found what looked like whiterice in their mouths.
“The birds started dying one by one. Only a few left were moving.”
She added that another resident had called the Choa Chu Kang Town Council and AVA for assistance some two hours before. AVA personnel started removing the birds around 7pm, she said.
Mr Manoj Kumar, 47, a businessman who was visiting his parents, said at least eight policemen were at the scene at around 6pm.
“The birds seemed to be fighting for their lives; the small sparrows looked like they were gasping for breath,” he added.
“If the birds were poisoned, how could someone do such a thing? They are so pitiful.”
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 19, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Aldo Leopold famously said “to keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering” when talking about preserving threatened and endangered species. When a species is lost, though, should we try to re-create that cog or wheel?
In this week’s episode of Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist introduces us to de-extinction and an ambitious project to bring the passenger pigeon back from the dead.
As a biologist, I got a big kick out of Jurassic Park, a blockbuster movie that was released 25 years ago. The premise was basically bringing extinct species back to life using DNA extracted from blood that was drunk by mosquitoes that were subsequently trapped and preserved in tree sap. The pieces of information missing from damaged DNA strands was replaced with that of a living animal, in this case a frog, and was used to turn an unfertilized ostrich egg into a dinosaur egg.
So why am I talking about science fiction dinosaur movies? Because I had this episode in the works for some time, and I wasn’t sure how to kick it off, but in all honesty the more I read about it, the more I can’t help but draw parallels to Jurassic Park. I am talking about the emerging science of de-extinction. However, the real-life application does not involve setting up a live dinosaur exhibit at a theme park; de-evolution is being looked at as a potential solution to environmental issues and challenges here in the U.S. and abroad. In Siberia, there is currently an effort underway to use herbivores to restore a desired habitat condition, a project called “Pleistocene Park.” There is currently an effort underway to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction, using our closet living species, the Asian elephant. Closer to home, there is a project to bring back the passenger pigeon.
The passenger pigeon is probably the best known example of an extinct American species lost because we thought it could not be destroyed. These birds once darkened the Wisconsin skies with spectacular migrations. They were shot in countless numbers and used for everything from feathers to hog food. The last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. A monument was erected to this bird in Babcock, Wisconsin. At the monument’s dedication ceremony, naturalist Aldo Leopold spoke of the significance of the recognition of our error. “For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun,” Leopold said. “We grieve because no living man will see again the on-rushing phalanx of victorious birds, sweeping a path for spring across the March skies, chasing the defeated winter from all the woods and prairies of Wisconsin.”
Is it possible that Leopold was wrong, that we may yet again see these birds darken the skies? I’m trying to reserve judgement. I know just enough biology and genetics to grasp the most basic concepts here, especially when they supply colorful charts and illustrations. You can find plenty of details on their website, reviverestore.org. There is an extensive plan to bring this ambitious plan to fruition. basically, they want to re-create viable passenger pigeon DNA that they can inject into some eggs of band-tailed pigeons. Much like Jurassic park, de-extinctionists are obtaining DNA samples and in filling the gaps in the genome mapping using the DNA of a similar extant species, the band-tailed pigeon. They would hatch as band-tailed pigeons, but when they reached sexual maturity and bred, their eggs would be passenger pigeon eggs. The hatchlings would be raised in conditions that would allow them to breed more passenger pigeons, and let them learn to act like a passenger pigeon. Then when the population reaches 10,000 birds, they would start to release them in a couple of locations around the country and train them to migrate using trained carrier pigeons. A lot can go wrong with this process, but if everything goes right, de-extinctionists estimate we could have passenger pigeons released in test flocks between 2030 and 2040.
I have so much I want to say about this concept, but I’m afraid it will have to wait. This is just a first peek at the de-extinction of the passenger pigeon. I look forward to additional discussions on this subject in the near future.
Striving to make new things familiar and familiar things new, this is the Masked Biologist coming to you from the heart of Wisconsin’s great Northwoods.
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 18, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
PITTSBURGH – The National Aviary in Pittsburgh just completed a $1.2 million renovation of the historic Tropical Rainforest habitat, and for about 70 endothermic vertebrates that make their home there, that’s just ducky.
While they were re-homed for the past three months during construction, the resident birds, including Victoria crowned pigeons, laughing thrushes, hyacinth macaws, bufflehead ducks and great argus pheasants, have been slowly introduced to their new digs.
A 15-foot waterfall with three pools dominates the space, surrounded by new non-slip flooring, lighting, custom perches and tropical plants and trees.
“It’s all about the birds,” said aviary Executive Director Cheryl Tracy, who unveiled the habitat Friday.
More than 3,100 panes of original glass – 19,600 square feet – were replaced with bird-friendly glass designed to prevent collisions both inside and out. The new dome also maximizes ultraviolet light transmittance to help the wildlife and plants thrive.
The old glass, said Tracy, was failing, resulting in energy loss and water leaks. Luckily the framing, constructed in 1952, was in good condition and able to be restored.
The habitat was designed to mimic a real rainforest, and to encourage nesting and other natural behaviors.
The critically endangered palm cockatoo makes its home in the habitat, as does Wookiee, a two-toed sloth, and Guam rails, which are extinct in the wild. The aviary is leading the effort to breed the birds and reintroduce them to the wild. In addition to the birds who previously lived in the rainforest habitat, about 13 new species will be added.
The project was funded by Colcom Foundation and the Allegheny Regional Asset District, which funds regional assets from one-half of the proceeds of the 1 percent Allegheny County Sales and Use Tax. Over the past 23 years, the district has provided $26 million to the aviary, which is the only independent indoor nonprofit zoo in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to birds.
The completion of the Tropical Rainforest coincides with the 25th anniversary of the aviary’s national designation and renaming as the National Aviary.
“(The renovation) was a labor of love for every single person at the aviary,” said Tracy.
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 17, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
A remarkably resilient pigeon has defied the odds and survived being trapped down a Cambridgeshire home’s chimney.
The distressed bird was heard to be clawing and flapping for days after it fell and got stuck behind a gas fireplace.
After receiving little support from wildlife experts, the house’s owners turned to a local handyman for help.
The sooty pigeon was released apparently unharmed after a seven day ordeal and flew off to the nearest high tree.
Allison Jackson, in her 60s, and Joan Jackson, 91, of Fulbourn, heard the loud thud of the pigeon plummeting down their chimney earlier this month.
“We heard clawing and we thought it could be mice or a rat. We never had any idea it was a bird,” explained Allison.
“It wasn’t singing a song or anything like that. He was clawing the whole time.”
The two ladies speculated what sort of “monster” had dropped down their chimney and called for help.
“You’re imagination goes wild,” joked Allison.
Technicians from the gas board turned off the supply to the fireplace, but advice from wildlife experts was useless, claims Allison.
No-one seemed to know how to remove the fireplace and there were even recommendations to call the fire service.
“It was just clawing and there was also a banging noise. I suppose it was just trying to get out again,” she added.
She and her mother turned to local handyman David Peat to see if he could rescue the bird.
“They phoned me up and said there’s a noise going on in one of the chimneys,” David explained.
“We didn’t know what it was. It was just making a bad noise.”
A gas technician came to the property and confirmed that a bird was inside the chimney, but still its wait for release went on.
David added: “Days had gone by. I said ‘whatever is in there is going to be dead surely. It couldn’t last that long without food and water’.
“They said: ‘We haven’t heard anything in two days. We’ve given up hope’.
“I went round and rattled the fire from side to side and low and behold he started again.”
David estimated the bird was stuck inside a shoe box-sized space.
“Once he got down the bottom he couldn’t flap his wings inside to get out,” he said.
“How long does a pigeon last like that? It must have been terrible in this heat.”
Eventually David was able to get a electrician to help show him how to remove the fireplace and get the bird out.
“We said he wouldn’t be alive and boy did he put up a fight,” said Allison.
“They got him in the end and he flew up the highest tree.
“It’s such a great relief, thinking about that poor bird down there.”
David added: “There he was all perky. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. We took it round the corner and away it flew.
“The bird was black, it had sooty stuff on it but it looked unscathed.
“I said: ‘It’s going to the nearest lake for a drink and a wash’.”
According to guidance from the RSPCA about ‘living with pigeons’, wire frame structures can prevent the birds settling on chimney stacks.
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 16, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
The roof of Sylvia Whittall’s home in Glenridding Drive, Barrow, has been the temporary home for a white racing pigeon since it landed on her eaves on Saturday.
The bird is believed to be one of a number tasked with racing across the English Channel from Belgium on Saturday in a bid to mark the centenary of the First World War.
During the war thousands of pigeons were used across all theatres of the conflict, often the only way vitally important messages could be relayed to and from the battlefield.
Our advice would be to leave it alone and eventually it will decide it is ready to continue on its flight and it will return home
When released the birds will make their way home to their individual lofts found across Cumbria.
However one of the birds, which Mrs Whittall has traced to an owner in Silloth, has stopped off in Barrow and has been gathering its energy after being forced to take a pit stop.
“It’s a beautiful bird but it was very tired and weary when it first arrived on Saturday,” Mrs Whittall said.
“It has improved since it arrived and we’ve been putting out some food for it.”
A spokesman for the Royal Pigeon Racing Association explained that if a bird becomes too tired during a race it will take a break until it recovers sufficiently to continue.
“It can be quite common, especially at this time of year when the weather is warmer and there’s a lot of grain in the fields, for some pigeons to become exhausted and stop for a while,” the spokesman said.
“This might be for a few hours or even a few days but as long as they have access to water, and grain, and they are able to fly down to it, then our advice would be to leave it alone and eventually it will decide it is ready to continue on its flight and it will return home.”
The pigeon on Mrs Whittall’s roof is registered with a WHU prefix, used by the Welsh Homing Pigeon Union, but further enquiries established its owner is based in Silloth.
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 15, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
In a new study, a team led by University of Utah biologists has discovered that different versions of a single gene, called NDP (Norrie Disease Protein), have unexpected links between color patterns in pigeons, and vision defects in humans. These gene variations were likely bred into pigeons by humans from a different pigeon species and are now evolutionarily advantageous in wild populations of feral pigeons living in urban environments.
The U biologists analyzed the genomes of domestic rock pigeons (Columba livia) to determine the mutations that govern the four fundamental color patterns on pigeon wing feathers. They compared the default, ancestral “bar” pattern, named for the horizontal black stripes near the wing tips, against the slightly darker “checker” pattern, the darkest “T-check” pattern, and the lightest “barless” pattern.
They found that a DNA sequence near the NDP gene was very different between bar birds and both T-check and checker birds. In addition, some of the T-check and checker pigeons have more copies of a stretch of DNA near the gene, resulting in even more pigment in their feathers. In all cases, the gene sequence itself is unaltered. In contrast, the least pigmented barless birds had a mutation in the gene sequence itself, which could affect its function.
“That’s pretty wacky. It’s the same gene, but it’s modified in different ways to get completely different results,” said Mike Shapiro, professor of biology at the U and senior author of the paper.
This is the first time NDP has been associated with pigment variation. Pigeon breeders have reported that barless birds have had vision problems for decades. This study discovered that the exact same NDP mutation found in barless pigeons is also found in two human families with hereditary blindness, suggesting that this part of the NDP gene is important in eye development.
Previous research has shown that the darker checker and T-check birds have an advantage in urban environments; they have a longer breeding season and fledge many young out of the nest. The new U study found that the genetic changes associated with checker and T-check patterns probably resulted from humans breeding the domestic rock pigeon with the African speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), a wild pigeon species common in sub-Saharan Africa. A version of the NDP gene was introduced into domestic pigeons several hundred years ago, long after pigeon domestication. The implication is stunning.
“Humans may have transferred a trait to another this other species that they had domesticated, and that trait is now out in the wild, where it is now advantageous specifically in human-created habitats,” said Shapiro. “It’s nuts.”
The study was published online on July 17, 2018 in the journal, eLife.
Human-driven diversity
Since domesticating the rock pigeon over 5,000 years ago, humans have bred more than 350 pigeon varieties in different colors, patterns, shapes and sizes. The humble street birds aided Alexander the Great in battles and helped Charles Darwin explain natural and artificial selection in “On the Origin of Species.” Today, hobbyists drive most of the diversity within the species by competing for cash prizes and glory in breeding competitions all over the world.
The researchers worked with the Utah Pigeon Club, the longest continuously running pigeon club in the western U.S., and the National Pigeon Association to get the blood samples necessary to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving diverse pigmentation patterns. In the early 1900s, geneticists first recorded that four fundamental color patterns were likely determined by variations at a single region, or locus, on a chromosome. Hobbyist have likely known about the basic genetics for much longer.
“Pigeon breeders know what a bird might look like if you bring two different combinations together. Without knowing about the molecules involved, they know which physical traits are dominant, and which are recessive,” said Anna Vickrey, doctoral candidate at the U and lead author of the paper.
Vickrey and colleagues sequenced the genomes of the four varieties, testing candidate genes that might regulate different color patterns. They found that barless pigeons have a mutation in the NDP gene sequence itself that impedes pigment production. Then, they determined that the darker-feathered birds had more copies of a probable regulatory DNA sequence, which dials up expression of NDP in checker and t-check birds.
“To see both changes in how much of the pigment gene is expressed, and changes in gene sequence in one suite of physical characteristics is kind of unique. It’s definitely exciting,” said Vickrey.
“It turns out that how many copies of that DNA region you have determines how dark your wings are. So, this is a mechanism for evolution of traits like pigmentation by simply duplicating stretches of DNA. It’s not really evolving something from scratch, it’s taking what you’ve got and making more copies,” added Shapiro.
The human connection
Although unknown in the bird world, the NDP gene is well studied in humans. Dozens of mutations in the gene result in blindness, deafness, schizophrenia and motor and intellectual problems. Yet the mutation in barless pigeons only affects their pigmentation and eyesight. At least two families in Japan with the same mutation in NDP experience only hereditary blindness. It points to at least part of the gene being important to vision.
“We discovered this gene that hasn’t been implicated in pigmentation traits before. It has these really interesting links to eye disease, so that implicated a common link between pigmentation and eye development that’s worth following up,” said Shapiro.
The researchers are collaborating with the Moran Eye Center at the U to study the veins and arteries behind barless pigeon retinas for insight into the NDP mutation’s effect on eye development.
Additionally, checker and T-check pigeons seem to have other reproductive and physiological changes that let them thrive in urban habitats. The biologists are investigating whether linked traits raise the possibility that NDP is changing not just pigmentation patterning, but also other important fitness traits.
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 14, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
It was a windy spring day when a small cluster of relatives gathered at the All Saints Cemetery outside Pittsburgh to lay their aunt to rest. The affair was simple — no hulking tombstone, no choir singing “Amazing Grace,” no long sermon. Then came Ken Haselrig’s turn.
Haselrig is tall and built like a retired linebacker, and all eyes were on him as he reached into a dainty wicker basket and retrieved a single white dove. Using his thumb and forefinger to hold the bird, he asked the bereaved if they would like to pet it. Some gave only a cursory stroke, but several lingered on the dove, looking into its eyes and even whispering to it.
When they finished, Haselrig raised the bird and tossed it into the wind. The dove banked left, cleared a row of pines, and with a few flaps of its snow-white wings, disappeared.
But not for good. White doves used in such releases are actually homing pigeons, and this one was on its way home — to Haselrig’s house about a dozen miles away.
From the ancient Greeks to the 5th-century Egyptians, people have for centuries released birds in remembrance, mourning and celebration. Haselrig has been doing it for just eight years.
After 23 years as a science teacher, Haselrig started his bird business, called Dovecote. Rain or shine, winter or summer, weddings and bar mitzvahs and funerals — Haselrig’s birds fly them all. Last year, Haselrig flew his birds at around 70 different events, and 2018 is already looking to outpace that number.
Although such bird-release operations are on the rise, Haselrig said many wedding officiants and funeral directors have never seen a white dove in person. And even more often, he said, the people who watch his releases don’t understand how they work.
“Sometimes I’ll do a release, and after the birds have flown away, the people just stare at me,” Haselrig said. “They’re waiting for me to go collect them.”
But this is the beauty of homing pigeons — they do not need to be collected. They’re already winging their way back to their base.
“They usually beat me home,” Haselrig said.
Two birds of the same feather
Most of the birds we call pigeons and doves are the same species. Some are white; some are mottled gray, black, and green. But they’re all domestic pigeons, or Columba livia domestica, a subspecies of the rock dove or rock pigeon, Columba livia.
“They’re so interchangeable that the American Ornithologists Union committee on nomenclature has actually flip-flopped back and forth in terms of calling our city feral pigeons ‘rock doves’ or ‘rock pigeons’,” said Robert Mulvihill, an ornithologist at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh.
The bird family known as Columbidae includes more than 300 species of pigeons and doves — creatures found all over the world and given evocative names like mourning dove and ruddy quail-dove, white-crowned pigeon and red-billed pigeon.
But the only meaningful difference between the graceful birds released to mark a new marriage and the animals that mark your car with liquid dung is a little bit of breeding.
Not every pigeon is a homing pigeon, however. “Some pigeons can’t find their way across a street,” Haselrig said.
For that, the birds must be trained. Or as Haselrig calls it, “programmed.”
It’s not the kind of regimen that would make a good movie montage set to “Eye of the Tiger.” First, Haselrig waits for a bird to learn to fly, then he takes it a short distance from its loft and lets it try to return home. Once it’s mastered that, he might release it from a half-mile away, then a mile, and on and on until the bird can find its way home from halfway across Pennsylvania.
The trick is to let the birds get a little hungry before flying, he said. This gives them an incentive to go back to the only reliable food source they’ve ever known.
Pigeon GPS
But how do they know where to go?
Scientists are only just starting to understand how this works. It used to be thought that iron cells in the birds’ beaks helped the animals navigate, sort of like a compass pointing to true north. However, newer studies are investigating the role of proteins in the animals’ retinas, which may allow pigeons to see the earth’s magnetic field.
“When I think about orientation and navigation, I think about how we humans fly,” said Atticus Pinzón-Rodríguez, a sensory biologist who studies zebra finches at Lund University in Sweden. “We rely on complex mechanisms and myriad different, and many times redundant, sources of information. If one source fails or is not reliable, the pilot will check others to correct course and take us to our destination. “
Birds, he suspects, do the same thing. They use landmarks or the position of the sun when they can.
“But when the animal doesn’t have access to those sources, the magnetic field is there. And it has been there since the Earth started spinning, so it is unlikely that evolution and biological systems have simply ignored such a rich source of spatial information,” he said.
But even if birds see things we cannot, it doesn’t mean they are infallible. Take the bird Haselrig calls “Big Yellow,” a male dove that one day showed up at his suburban backyard coops out of the blue. Haselrig recognized the yellow tag on the bird’s leg, so he called the animal’s owner and asked him if he wanted his bird back.
The man, Haselrig recalled, said heck no. After all, what good is a homing pigeon that cannot find its way home?
Haselrig eventually reprogrammed Big Yellow to fly for him, which the bird did successfully for a while. He even trusted the convert enough to release him along with several other doves at a wedding near Penn State, a couple of hours’ drive from Haselrig’s suburban Pittsburgh house. But when the flock returned, Big Yellow wasn’t with it.
Then, 30 days later, Big Yellow came spiraling down into the yard. Only now the bird carried a large scar and a few feathers growing weirdly straight out of his chest. Haselrig suspected it was a wound that had been inflicted by a hawk. (For doves, run-ins with raptors can be a hazard of the job.)
Big Yellow’s trials were not over, however. Upon return, this avian Odysseus discovered his mate had taken a new beau. Big Yellow ran the suitor off and the couple was restored.
“He has been officially retired ever since and lives happily with his mate. He flies free around the loft,” Haselrig said. “But I do not take him to release events anymore.”
Home base
Big Yellow and about 70 colleagues reside in backyard lofts, which are sort of crosses between garden sheds and children’s playhouses. Pigeons have an undeserved reputation as filthy-disease spreaders, but Haselrig’s lofts smell better than many a pet-friendly home.
Haselrig admits that helping people see past pigeon-related stigmas is a hard part of his vocation, but he’s also sometimes surprised by how much people seem to care about the birds’ welfare.
“Before I release the dove, I explain that the bird is meant to symbolize your loved one,” he said.
These words are meant to soothe the mourners, but sometimes, particularly in winter or on windy days, it can also produce anxiety. People worry the birds won’t be able to make it on their own in the cold, or that they’ll starve.
So Haselrig elaborates.
“It won’t get lost,” he tells the families. “It won’t be wandering. It’s going home.”
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 13, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
If you look when you enter Pima from the direction of Thatcher, you’ll see streetlights hanging over U.S. Highway 70 courtesy of poles fastened firmly to the sidewalk on the north and south sides of the highway.
If you’re lucky, when you pass the fourth pole from the east, on the north side of the highway, you’ll see as many as 20 or more rock doves (the kind of pigeons I recall growing up in Chicago) sitting quietly on the arm extending out over the street. Sometimes these birds are there, and other times they’re not. But when they’re there, they’re all but always sitting on the fourth light pole from the east on the north side. No kidding; these birds must really be creatures of habit . . . or friends who like spending time together, which is my expectation.
Rarely, they’re on another pole, and even less rarely, there are so many of these pigeons that some have to sit on other poles — even some on the south side of the highway.
The birds, it seems, talk quietly to one another and pay no attention to the cars passing under them.
I’m intrigued by this because I’ve only known one other group that met that regularly and almost always in the same place. Mary Lou’s family introduced me to these retired men as “Daddy’s coffee club.” “Daddy” referring to Jerry, my late father-in-law.
I met the coffee club one winter when Mary Lou and I came to Safford for Christmas break. One morning, Jerry asked me if I’d like to join him for coffee along with the other septa- and octogenarians at Jerry’s Restaurant, where they met each morning and afternoon.
Sounded like a plan to me, and so we headed off.
I don’t recall the names of the six or seven men who were there that morning (the number varied depending on who had what to do that day), but they all smiled broadly when we met, shaking my hand and telling me they’d all heard lies about the kind of person I was but they knew I was really OK. I told them I found that reassuring as they ushered me in to the booth’s seat next to the window and so farthest from the waitress when she appeared. I didn’t yet know why they wanted me in that seat, but I was pleased that I’d relieved myself at home before we left for Jerry’s because that allowed me to miss the ribbing I’d receive if I had to ask everyone on my side of the table to move so I could use the men’s room.
I also learned that the booth they were using was their booth, and the only time they used another is if someone, unaware of their tradition, was using it when they showed up. And then they found another one, vowing to show up earlier next time.
The waitress came and took our orders (mine was the only one she didn’t predict) by calling to each by name and recalling their usual orders. Only one or two orders, if I recall, needed to be revised, and that was because the guy ordering it had changed his mind that day. She took the orders, by the way, by shouting over the men’s conversations. I got the feeling that she’d developed this tactic over time since there was no way they’d quiet down, being, as they were, in multiple conversations simultaneously.
The only one whose name I recall is Doc Harries, then a recently retired Arizona state veterinarian. He’d traveled all over the state examining cattle and pigs to be sold, inspecting chicken-raising facilities and so on. I was intrigued that this meant he’d been issued (what looked to me like) mummy sleeping bags left over from WWII. Subsequently, he gave me two of them, one of which I still use, lovingly.
The high point of the morning arrived when the waitress came with the bill. The men each told her they wanted the bill, and so, using a windup and delivery I’m sure she’d long ago developed, she threw the bill high over the center of the table where all the septa- and octogenarians fought over it as it floated tableward. I noticed that she’d long since turned and left the table by the time one of them snagged the bill.
I also noticed that each of them discouraged me when I offered to leave the tip.
So I decided that the next time I joined the coffee club for coffee, by gory, I’d get the bill. And I did.
On that occasion, and while everyone was munching their sweet rolls and drinking their coffee, I asked to be excused (meaning that the men on my side of the booth had to get out of their seats when I left and again when I returned) from the men’s room. And on the way back, I gave the waitress my credit card and asked her to return it to me along with the receipt to sign, and she agreed.
So when my new friends called for the bill, they were surprised to find it had been paid — tip and all. “Who did it?” they demanded to know, and when the waitress told them, they forgot my name and began calling me “Out of town money” which they all thought was hysterical. I didn’t feel badly, either.
Now, 15-plus years later, all the coffee clubbers are gone, the only thing left behind being the booth at Jerry’s Restaurant where they met, twice daily, for God knows how many years. And I’m left missing them and the joyful low-keyed ruckus they shared twice daily.
I’m reminded of them almost every time I drive under the fourth streetlight from the east on U.S. Highway 70 in Pima. Much of the time, the birds are there, and only rarely are they on a pole other than the fourth — I suspect because their usual pole was already occupied by other birds when the pigeons arrived. The only thing I don’t know about those birds is how they decide who gets the bill.
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 12, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
Forty-seven-year-old K. Chathura, a seasoned bird fancier from Colombo, makes three trips to Chennai every year, mainly to visit his relatives. During these trips, he visits his favourite grain shop on a narrow lane behind the bus terminus in Mint where he buys grains for racing homing pigeons.
Located on the busy Mint Street, this small square-shaped shop has sacks of gunny bags, and only a little space for customers to walk.
Apparently, racing pigeon fanciers in Colombo also like to buy grains for their birds from this shop. And, Chathura buys grains for a few pigeon fanciers in Colombo.
He says back there, most of these grains, especially safflower and sunflower seeds (which are fed to racing pigeons for its fat content), are not available. Most of the grains for the racing homing pigeons in Colombo are imported from Indonesia.
“Imported grains from Indonesia are of poor quality. In my latest trip to the city a week ago, I brought around 120 kg of grains from the Mint shop,” he says.
“Buying imported grains is easy. But the grains brought from Mohammad Ali’s shop are of high quality as they are selected carefully from the wholesale market there. Also, these grains are locally cultivated and therefore suit native homing pigeons. This is evident from the healthy growth of my birds,” says noted film director and an avid racing pigeon fancier, C. Vetrimaaran.
Fifty-three-year-old Mohammad Ali, who runs the shop along with his wife, Jamila, for more than three decades, says he entered the grains-selling business after dropping out of school as a Class VIII student. Since then, he is running the shop with racing-homing pigeon fanciers as its main customers. The shop also sells grains for cockatiels and African lovebirds.
Racing pigeon fanciers across the State, including Vellore, Ambur, Nagapattinam, Ranipet, Wallajah, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Madurai and Thiruvanamalai visit the grain shop regularly.
Pet lovers from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Nellore also place orders with the shop. Most of the 20 pigeon-fancier associations in Chennai, the highest in the country, prefer to buy grains from the shop.
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 11, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
It’s hard to imagine now, in the age of drone photography, how it would have felt to have the very first glimpse of the world from a bird’s-eye view. In the 19th century, early photographers experimented with aerial images using balloons and kites, devices that were made and controlled by humans. But a more organic perspective emerged when a German apothecary strapped a small camera to a pigeon, to photograph the world in flight.
His name was Julius Neubronner, and he had a family history of using pigeons in unconventional ways. His father, also an apothecary, received prescriptions and sent out urgent medications by pigeon. Neubronner also relied on pigeons to replenish his stocks of medications. But when a bird went missing for a month, Neubronner was curious to know where it had been. While other bird-owners might consider this thought a mere flight of fancy, an unanswerable question, Neubronner took a different view: He designed a camera, one that shot automatically, for his pigeons to wear.
Despite their often negative public image, pigeons have a long history of being incredibly useful to humans. In Ancient Rome, pigeons delivered news of chariot victories. There are multiple accounts of their use in wartime throughout history, including in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, when besieged Parisians sent messagesout of the city via pigeon. They even helped build a business empire. But using pigeons to carry cameras was new, and so Neubronner began to experiment.
According to a December 1908 article in The New York Tribune, Neubronner figured out the best shutter speed by photographing from express trains. He reportedly created several different devices, and in 1907, he submitted his “Method of and Means for Taking Photographs of Landscapes From Above” to the Imperial Patent Office. In this design, the camera, which had two inclined lenses and an automatic shutter, was fixed to an aluminum frame which was then strapped to the pigeon with a leather harness. The patent office approved the device in 1908, but only after Neubronner supplied photographic evidence that it could actually function.
After his patent was approved, Neubronner displayed his photographs at the 1909 Dresden International Exhibition of Photography. Newspapers picked up on the story. “Pigeons Now Used as Photographers,” headlined The Columbian newspaper, on January 7, 1909. In Australia, the Lismore Star wrote “Pigeons to Take Photographs While Flying.”
The Prussian Ministry of War also took an interest. Camera-wielding pigeons had enormous reconnaissance potential. In a piece headlined “Pigeons Carry Small Camera for Scientist,” the Los Angeles Herald reported starkly “The carrier pigeon flies at the height of 150 to 300 feet, safe from small shot and very difficult to hit with bullets.” According to a 1909 magazine article, the government requested pigeon photographs of the Tegel Water Works to test Neubronner’s invention, which he arranged, training his pigeons to return to a mobile dovecote complete with darkroom. But the military potential was relatively short-lived: During World War I, new specially-designed aerial cameras spied on the enemy from planes, outpacing the potential pigeons might have had.
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 10, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Chiang Mai City Life is reporting that the Public Health Office is warning travellers and locals not to feed the pigeons at Tha Pae Gate. This isn’t the first time tourists have been warned.
As the number of pigeons at Tha Pae Gate increases officials are concerned about health and hygiene issues. A report has been released again in an attempt to discourage travellers from feeding the pigeons. Since concerns broke out in the media, the Chiang Mai Municipality wishes to remind people that feeding the pigeons is a prohibited, and the sale of bird feed at Tha Pae Gate is illegal.
Despite the warning, there are still vendors active in the area selling feed, encouraging tourists to feed and take photos with the pigeons. Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office emphasised that during the monsoon season, influenza is easily spread especially among carriers like pigeons, and all are advised to avoid them.
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 9, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, California – Whether it’s Genghis Khan using messenger pigeons in 1201 or former Gen. James Mattis using a satellite phone in 2009, one thing remains clear; effective communications play a vital role in the military.
“During my time, I’ve been fortunate enough to see communications go from an analog to digital standpoint,” said Joey Trecartin, a retired chief warrant officer 5 who served in communications for 30 years as a network engineering officer, circuit card repairer, communication security equipment technician, and technical controller. “The evolution of communications has enabled commanders to make more informed decisions than generations past.”
When Trecartin was a private first class almost 30 years ago, he dealt with numerous radios and parts that did the same job of one lightweight, modernized radio today.
“30 years ago, communications was very different,” said Trecartin. “A radio was just a radio for voice communication. Now they are used to send data and have a lot more capabilities in a smaller package.”
Communications play an important role in the Marine Corps; it allows information to be pushed around the battlefield instantaneously so commanders can react to changing situations faster, and provide the warfighter access to information necessary to complete missions.
According to historians, on June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway ended, in part because United States codebreakers at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, decoded Japanese naval communications. These actions enabled allied forces to predict an impending attack, highlighting the importance of communications on the battlefield.
“You want to have better rifles, better combat aircraft, better communications,” said Trecartin. “Communications allow commanders to have a real-time feel of what’s going on in the battlefield, which can ultimately save lives and win battles.”
Although modern militaries have instant access to real-time information at the snap of a finger, and no longer have to wait for carriers to deliver coded notes to commanders, how do we stay ahead of the enemy?
“More now than ever, we try to leverage commercial technology into our programs,” said Trecartin. “By seeing what is being worked on outside of the Marine Corps, we can take emerging technologies and apply them to a tactical environment.”
According to Trecartin, the mission of Marine Corps communications is to ensure that information is reliably transmitted from one point to another. That mission is achieved not only by having modern equipment, but also by improving the people and processes to make it a reality.
“Force modernization is going to better enable Marines that are forward deployed to connect with coalition and joint forces if need be,” said Trecartin. “If we’re modernizing our equipment it only makes sense to modernize our MOS’s so the Marine Corps can move forward.”
Marine Corps Vision and Strategy 2025 includes continuously innovating the Marine Corps by requiring that we look across the entire institution and identify areas that need improvement and effect positive change. The MOS’s in the communications field such as field wireman and cyber network operator were some of the many changed in support of Marine Corps force modernization. The new MOS’s in place of field wireman and cyber network operator are network administrator and data systems administrator, which play a key role in communications by establishing networks and configuring cyber systems.
The Marine Corps quickly picks up on what we have to do to change and stay ahead of the enemy,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Causey, transmissions chief, 9th Communications Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force. “It’s my job as a leader to train my Marines so they can be the next generation of combat communicators.”
As the Marine Corps continues to prepare for the battles and conflicts to come, the field of communications will continue to improve how we communicate in battle and in garrison.
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 8, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Pigeons may be a common sight — and nuisance — in major cities, but they’re a relatively new problem for Gander, where officials are not at all happy with avian visitors that have made a home out of a town depot.
“They seem to be relatively prolific, if you give them a good nesting place and a source of food,” said Gander mayor Percy Farwell.
Over the last decade, pigeons have nested in Gander’s salt storage facility, to the point where they have now created a hazardous working environment town staff.
“We have to deal with this issue here,” said Farwell, “because our staff are being forced to come in and breathe the air in here and it’s not the best place in the world to be.”
Farwell said the risks to staff who are exposed to the pigeons can be serious.
“Typically it would be forms of lung infection and so on, that may or may not even be noticed depending on how severe it would be,” he said. “There’s two or three different diseases that are typical and we just need to eliminate that risk for our workers.”
Prevention strategies
The Town of Gander is collaborating with animal services such as the SPCA, as well as pest control services to figure out the best way to remove the unwanted guests.
“There have been some efforts made around netting and mesh and stuff to try and keep them out of the rafters, but they’ll always find other ways in,” Farwell said.
“The risk here too is if you notice a location where they’re able to get in and you simply go and seal that up — well, now you’ve sentenced them to a death up there, because they can’t get out.”
Still, Farwell said pigeons are considered pests, which is a why a pest control company is being hired.
The CBC’s Melissa Tobin talks to Gander Mayor Percy Farwell about the infestation of pigeons at the town’s public works depot and how they plan to deal with the problem. 6:10
At some point soon, the company will start trapping and removing the birds.
“We’re trying right now to improve the situation for the benefit of the workers here and try to mitigate it the best we can at the new facility.”
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 7, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
While many of us think of the weather as merely a guide for our wardrobes, there are numerous industries, like aviation and energy, that depend on meteorology for their business.
A drought, for instance, will certainly have an impact on hydroelectric facilities in California and on farmers and ranchers.
That could be why many Americans spend so much money on instrumentation to track the weather for their homes and businesses.
Animals seem to have an innate knack to do just that. Enter American racing pigeons.
The birds can live up to 20 years and, like thoroughbred racehorses, are fed the finest grain and treated with tender loving care.
Central Coast resident Mike Brazil, who passed away last year, bred and trained American racing pigeons for more than 50 years.
He would drive more than 450 miles to Northern California to release his flock along with other groups of pigeons.
After traveling northward in a specially designed trailer, the athletic and highly trained birds were raring to get into the air and fly back home.
Upon release, the pigeons go straight up in the sky, like a rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, and circle overhead for a few moments to get their bearings and judge the winds.
“The sky can turn nearly black with so many pigeons in the air at once,” Mike once said.
American racing pigeons rely on the sun, landmarks, Earth’s magnetic field and even smell to navigate their way home.
Most impressively, they use their own instinctive ability to find the location of tail winds in mere seconds, unlike meteorologists with the most sophisticated weather analysis tools who may take hours.
The airspeed of a racing pigeon is roughly 45 mph. With tailwinds, their actual ground speed can reach nearly 100 mph for brief periods.
During the spring and summer, the winds through the Salinas Valley are often out of the northwest at the surface, heading toward the southeast below the temperature inversion layer.
The winds are often strong and persistent, perfect conditions for pigeons.
Eric Wessel has seen his pigeons flying along Highway 101 near the ground, brilliantly avoiding obstacles with a twitch of their tails or a beat of their wings.
If a cold front is coming down the coastline, the winds near the surface are often out of the southeast and blowing toward the northwest, producing strong head winds for the birds, while the winds higher up in the atmosphere can actually be blowing in the opposite direction.
Somehow, the birds know that, and they can be seen as tiny specks streaking across the sky as they take advantage of the tail winds.
Most researchers agree the birds probably have an internal compass to navigate by following the Earth’s magnetic field.
Scientists have discovered clusters of nerve endings wrapped around magnetic iron oxide on each side of the pigeon’s upper beak, which may act as that compass.
Racing pigeons are affected not only by the weather at the surface of the Earth but also by space weather.
On cloudy days, solar storms can disrupt a pigeon’s natural compass, causing it to lose its way.
After about eight to 10 hours of flying southward from Northern California, the birds arrive at their Central Coast homes and are carefully logged in to determine who won the race.
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 6, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
The Box Elder County Fair, one of the most celebrated spectacles of summer in Utah, is made possible by the behind-the-scenes work of an army or volunteers.
Over the last 12 years, few have given more time and effort to the cause than Bob Belew.
Belew’s specialty at the fair and throughout the year is small animals, specifically chickens and pigeons. He has served as a mentor to hundreds of youth in the 4-H small animal program, teaching them the finer points of showing the birds and doing all that it takes to win a coveted ribbon at the fair.
While chickens, pigeons and rabbits have been part of the huge livestock show for decades, there was no organized 4-H club for that classification until Belew came along, and at the request of fair organizers, started one.
For three years, he politely declined requests from the USU Extension office for him to start a club, until a grandson of his grew old enough to participate in 4-H. Belew took his grandson to a poultry club event in Farmington, and the boy took a shine to the birds. That was all the motivation he needed to get organized.
“They called again the next year and I said I’ll do it,” he said. “Twelve years later, here we are.”
In the club’s first year, Belew signed up about a dozen kids to participate. That number has grown steadily over more than a decade, and chickens and pigeons have become a mainstay at the fair thanks largely to Belew’s efforts.
“Thursday nights we would hold meetings starting the first week of June up until fair time,” he said. “I taught kids the right way to put a chicken in the pen and take it out, and the judges would ask five or six questions. We would give every kid a medallion with a ribbon to put around their neck. I wanted to see every kid at least get one of those.”
Membership in the chicken club quickly grew from around 12 kids to about 45, and it wasn’t long before the Extension office came knocking again, asking him to start a pigeon club as well.
“I had pigeons as a kid, so I thought I could link them together (with the chickens),” he said. “We don’t do showmanship with them, just put them in pens and the judges pick best of show, best of breed, best pair trophies. But the kids still get their prize money.”
But his contributions to the fair don’t end with birds. Belew has been a tireless fundraiser, forming relationships with local businesses and county officials to raise money for new facilities and building renovations and improvements at the fairgrounds, and for prizes for the annual chicken and pigeon shows. His grassroots efforts have helped build new poultry pens and other structures, and generally help make the fair’s livestock show second to none in the state and the region.
Belew has created long-lasting relationships with local prize sponsors, up to point where the program now receives more than $1,000 in gift cards every time the fair rolls around.
“We make sure they all get a thank you card, and every one of them says ‘see you next year.’”
He gives credit to the generous spirit of the local community for making things happen.
“Box Elder County is the most giving bunch you’ve ever seen,” he said.
He recounted the story of one local business owner who donated as he has done every year, despite being in a life-or-death battle with cancer.
“He’s in the hospital and I didn’t know if I should ask this year, but I went there (to the business) and his daughter said he told her to ask if we wanted gift cards,” Belew said. “He’s fighting that battle, and was still thinking about doing that for the kids. That’s the kind of people you find here.”
He has also become a go-to guy for distributing the annual fair book guide. Every July, Belew enlists the help of 4-H kids to take copies of the book around to local businesses from Brigham City to Snowville and all points in between.
“We deliver to more than 100 businesses and cover about 270 miles by the time we’re done,” he said.
Belew will turn 79 this year, and said he isn’t sure how much longer he will be able to continue his work with the fair. For the last two years he has been mentoring someone to eventually take over the work, but for now he says he continues to be motivated by the spirit of the fair.
“This fair is one of the best in the country, and it’s the biggest thing in Box Elder County,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of what I do at the fair.”
But the longest-lasting impressions he will take away from the work when he finally decides to call it quits will be the positive impacts he has been able to have on the kids in the program. Making a difference in the lives of youth makes all the hard work worthwhile for him.
“My concern is always teaching them to be responsible for their animals,” he said. It gives them something to do, keeps them off the street.”
He recounted a story of a couple with a son who was very shy, and they couldn’t talk him into to participating in the showmanship portion of the chicken program. They asked Belew to have a talk with the boy, and watched their son come out of his shell before their eyes.
“I sat him down and told him how proud his mom and dad would be if he did this. I told him that he knew the answers to all of the questions, and he could do it,” he said. “He missed one question and got third place, and that mother and dad, just the look on their faces — that’s all that mattered.”
Belew’s long-standing contributions to 4-H and the Box Elder County Fair will be recognized in August when he takes his rightful place as Grand Marshal in this year’s fair parade.
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 5, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
As the fight between a Ponoka man and federal veterinary officials continues over imported pigeons, concerns over whether the birds can transmit Avian Influenza to other species seems overblown.
Earlier this month, Guido Pfiffner was informed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that the 61 breeding pigeons currently in quarantine would need to be destroyed by July 13, unless the German government could validate that the birds were swab-tested for Avian Influenza (AI).
Dr. Faizal Careem, an associate professor of virology at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health, explained that the issue isn’t as easy or as black and white as it may seem.
“Influenza is kind of a strange virus. If one refers to textbooks, it says that pigeons are not susceptible to this virus and can not be carriers,” he said.
“But, since 1944 there has been tons of literature — both field and experimental studies — and they all say that pigeons are susceptible.”
In the past 74 years, 24 countries across four continents have conducted a total of 32 field studies and 22 experimental infection studies stated Dr. Careem.
“There are multiple studies, multiple authors and multiple countries involved, so I trust that data,” he added.
Dr. Careem explains that, in general, pigeons that carry the virus or antibodies — indicating previous exposure to AI — won’t show signs or symptoms.
“The most susceptible to the virus are wild waterfowl and shore birds, though the majority will only carry the virus and show no clinical signs. Pigeons are the same,” he said.
However, he noted that the virus is detectable in pigeons if it is present even though there are no clinical signs showing.
That testing is usually done in two ways: through taking a swab of the bird’s rear end or the nasal cavity; or via a blood test.
Carrier or transmitter?
Where the confusion comes in is on whether pigeons will transfer the disease to other bird species.
“There are some experimental infection studies that have been done with pigeons injected with the virus and then monitored to ensure they were excreting the virus. The pigeons were then co-habitated in the same cages as chicken and turkeys,” he said.
“What they found then was that none of the chickens or turkeys were infected.”
One reason for those results, as evidenced in the experimental findings, was that the pigeons didn’t secrete large enough doses of the virus to induce an infection into the far more susceptible birds they were placed with.
“Pigeons do have enough receptors that allow the virus to get into the birds, the issue is now that they have some form of natural resistance. That means the virus may be controlled to what may a be a low grade infection,” he added.
He also explained that it usually takes about a week for an AI infection to run its course in a pigeon and between 14 and 21 days for antibodies to show whether there is an infection or not.
Now while two big Avian Influenza strains — H5N1 and H7N9 — have made the news in recent years, there are literally hundreds of possible combinations as Dr. Careem noted there are 18 H subtypes and 11 N subtypes.
Yet, as influenza viruses are well known for mutating, Dr. Careem believes if the virus better adapts to pigeons it may well see the birds secrete vast amounts of the virus — large enough to infect other birds.
“That can happen, but we don’t know as there is no experimental evidence to suggest that is or has occurred,” he 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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
