My last column dealt with introduced species of birds such as the Mandarin duck and game birds such as pheasants and turkeys. On the Sunshine Coast we have four other species that qualify as introduced, that is, they arrived here with a helping hand from humans. In reality the distinction between species that arrive with a helping hand and those that arrive on their own initiative can be a little muddy.
House sparrows and starlings were both deliberately introduced to North America from Europe in the 19th century, while the most recent colonizer, the collared dove, escaped from an aviary in the Bahamas, crossed over to Florida and subsequently conquered the continent.
The history of starlings and house sparrows in North America is well known. Immigrants all over the world have often felt the need to introduce species from their homelands and there were a couple of unsuccessful introductions of starlings to the U.S. before the famous April 1890 introduction of 80 birds to Central Park in New York City. By 1928 the species had spread west to the Mississippi River and to California in 1942. House sparrows were also introduced to New York in 1852, originally as an attempt to control the linden moth. Both of these species were supremely adapted for a rapid spread in their new homeland.
House sparrows flourish around human habitation, both in urban environments and wherever there is cultivation. They are not common on the Sunshine Coast but a few can be found in downtown Sechelt and urban Gibsons.
Starlings congregate in large flocks and feed on rough pasture, often around livestock. They also wander to mudflats and shorelines in the summer.
Pigeons are semi-domesticated, generally found in close association with humans, though not directly dependent upon them. Correctly known as rock pigeons, they congregate in flocks where there is a constant food supply such as at a bird feeder. Many people have noted the flock that roosts on the power line in Selma Park, and another flock frequents the power lines at the Sechelt Marsh where they glean food from the ducks being fed.
Pigeons and doves have a long and close association with humanity, and in the last ten years or so the Eurasian collared dove has colonized the Sunshine Coast and indeed much of North America. That story will have to wait for a future column.
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.
X-rays show that the dove was a fracture of the humerus. The staff of “AVETA” have decided to enlist the help of colleagues from other veterinary clinic specialist in the diseases of birds. There are doctors along operated the dove. The fracture was closed. The bone fragments of fixed spokes. According to veterinarians, Frank on the same day began to eat, drink and waving to the sick wing.
Five weeks after surgery, the needle from the wing removed, but doctors have not yet released the dove to freedom – he needs to work out before the serious flights. Soon, Frank will be sent to Omsk pet store where, as I hope the experts he can find their owners. Doctors suggest that early bird lived in a dovecote.
We will remind, in the river on the left Bank, local residents noticed unusual pigeon. Bird traveled on the roof of the car, not flying. The incident took video of one of the drivers. The vehicle speed is not very high, as he was driving in a residential area of the city.
Users liked the antics of the birds. Some joked that the dove should be fined for ticketless travel. Others suggested that he was a superhero, which in this way of “racing to save the world.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Author and naturalist Joel Greenberg will be the featured speaker on the fate of three birds — passenger pigeons, Kirtland’s warblers and whooping cranes – at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, at the Prospect Heights Public Library, 12 N. Elm St. The event is co-sponsored by the Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission and the library. The look at the plight of three fascinating birds each experiencing a different fate at the hands of people has sometime heartbreaking outcomes that provide compelling lessons. The program is entitled “Hope is a Thing with Feathers: Americans and Three Birds.” Greenberg is a research associate at the Chicago Academy of Sciences Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Field Museum with more than 25 years of experience on natural resource related issues in the Midwest. Admission is free, but guests are asked to register ahead of time at the library’s information desk.
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.
I’m surrounded by people who root for underdogs. Iran winning the World Cup? My cousins can dream. A career in engineering? I’d bet money that my mother still holds out hope I’ll have one. Deciding 2016 is the time for a protest vote? We need to have a talk, buddy.
But just about no one is with me on pigeons.
When I look at them, I see curious birds that choose to bumble around with missing toes instead of fly and yet, still manage to survive almost exclusively on the vast human waste we brought them to. When others spot them, they’re shooed away with a fierce glare or avoided altogether with a longer route.
The more I’ve observed this attitude in a city setting, the more I find myself as the Resident Pigeon Defender. Almost no one agrees. (To my simultaneous appreciation and horror, Mike Tyson — whose first fight reportedly began over a pigeon — is one of the few.) Because ultimately, these birds are misunderstood, resilient creatures who elicit a tellingly similar reaction as people facing street homelessness — and we should really think hard about why.
To be fair, it’s likely that I don’t instantly recoil at the sight of pigeons because, well, they were my pets at some point in elementary school. Along with a handful of chickens, my family had four show pigeons that we fed, kept in good health, let fly around the suburbs of Orange County, and watched as the respective alphas got into compulsory fights on the daily.
City pigeons, on the other hand, are a bit rough around the edges. They get flak for being dirty, leaving feces everywhere, clustering in open spaces, and just generally being a nuisance.
As Nathanael Johnson concluded in a chapter dedicated to “the majesty of pigeons” in Unseen City, what he first saw as filth and pestilence was really societal failings that produce poverty and waste. That obviously applies first and foremost to humans, who sometimes develop a connection to birds out of emotional survival.
“Perhaps we’d feel differently about pigeons if we were better at dealing with our own species,” Johnson wrote. “It is our own filth that has created the conditions that enable pigeon populations to swell to slum densities.”
A flock of pigeons gathers near some people sitting in a corner at the 16th and Mission Street BART plaza on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018. Benches were removed during a recent remodel of the plaza. (Kevin N. Hume)
In fact, we can draw a pretty direct line from human actions to the pigeons we know today. Pigeons were even once signs of wealth and touted around by aristocrats, Johnson wrote. After Samuel de Champlain, the French colonial governor of Quebec, brought them to North America, the New World’s increasing density proved to be a successful habitat for once-wild pigeons who became commonplace.
When food became abundant after agriculture boomed, pigeons picked up the crumbs and multiplied in numbers to a fault. We now see them aggressively fight for those crumbs, sometimes thrown by well-meaning or lonely folks, while diseases spread in crowded nests.
To dispel some of that disgust, we ought to at least know a little more about them before we write them off. If pigeons seem like they’re in their own world, it’s probably because they can see in ultraviolet, sense the Earth’s magnetic field, and pick up atmospheric changes far beyond humans in elevators.
Pigeons are also quite skilled at hiding their young — if you’ve ever seen a baby pigeon, consider it a deep honor. Squabs, as they’re known, stick their heads in their parents’ throats and thrust around for nutritious milk for the first two months of their lives. You can recognize a juvenile pigeon if you look for an oversized beak and brown eyes, rather than the gleaming, reddish-orange eyes seen in adults.
Better yet, take a moment to notice the green and purple on their necks. Though most pigeons are gray and black, others are white. This begs the question: What makes them so different from doves, that symbol of peace that people release at weddings? Not much besides color and location, as they’re all in the same Columbidae family of birds.
As I repeat these unsolicited points to friends and family, this pigeon advocacy of mine has had some small victories. My years-long housemate — who absolutely hated all birds when I first met her — began to feel wistful about no longer hearing the coos of pigeons that took refuge in the backyard stairway of our former Parkside home.
Another listened in horror as our landlord casually told us he crushed a bunch of their eggs, as if they were parasites. But many people remain unable to see the same majesty I do, and that’s their loss.
At the very least, it’s one less thing to spend energy hating in a stressful world. At most, it’s a chance to observe another species in all its glory while we’re occupied with fear and disgust for the downtrodden.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A US bird rescue organisation is searching for the owner of a very fashionable bird, after it was found wearing a tiny vest covered in rhinestones.
Workers at the Fallen Feathers shelter in Arizona say the bird was brought to them complete with it’s delicately made bejeweled vest.
It posted a picture of the bird and its outfit to its Facebook page, saying the bird clearly had an owner out there looking for it.
“Looking for the owner of a lost pigeon that was turned in today,” a spokesperson said.
“The bird was wearing the flight suit with rhinestones. If you know the owner we have your friend here waiting.”
Commenters were amused by the bird’s outfit and many commented to praise it.
“Looks like it maybe El Chapo’s pigeon with that fancy gold encrusted vest,” one said.
“Oh my goodness! Too cute. I literally never heard of this but love it! All critters deserve love and care,” another wrote.
Fallen Feathers owner Judy Kieran told Arizona Family the bird was very friendly and quite domesticated, but the shelter hasn’t managed to find its owner yet.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
If you are missing a pet pigeon, it might be at a Northwest Valley animal shelter.
The pigeon is sporting a rhinestone vest, a sign that it belongs to someone.
A woman found the pigeon in Glendale, near 61st Avenue and Bell Road, over the weekend. It was wearing a bedazzled flight suit, and the woman turned it over to the Fallen Feathers Bird Rescue in Peoria.
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This bedazzled bird has since captured the hearts of hundreds on social media.
“She had it in a box with a towel thrown over the top of it, and I opened it up, and we took him out, and there he is with all of his bling,” said Fallen Feathers director Jody Kieran.
Kieran said she does not know if the bird is a male or female, but she does think the bird is less than six months old, and is clearly a house pet.
“A wild bird naturally flies to light, and this guy kind of hangs on your shoulder,” said Kieran. “He’s not looking to get out of here. So, he’s definitely used to being in someone’s home.”
The pigeon even likes to watch TV, and does seem to love all the attention.
“He watched a Western the other day with my daughter, so he does like Westerns, if that’s a clue to who the owner is,” said Kieran, “So, maybe he’s a Rhinestone Cowboy! haha! I don’t know.”
If no one claims the pigeon, Kieran said there are other options.
“We would try to get him wild and see if we can get him to join a flock,” said Kieran. “Chances are he’s missed the boat on that one, and we will have to try and find him a home, and if I can’t, I guess I’m going to have to get matching outfits!”
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.
