by johnnymarin | May 27, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Why do pigeons roost on roofs or gutters?
Pigeons like comfortable sunny places that are safe from predators and has abundant food and water. The nests are built of twigs but quickly become so covered in droppings that they look like a big pile of waste. When the babies are born, they are a dull brown and are perfectly camouflaged in the nest. Gutters are dish-shaped and provide great nesting sites that securely hold the nests. Pigeons nest and roost on and in houses because it gives them a good view of nearby feeding areas or because they have gained access to the interior of the building. They usually access buildings through broken windows, missing or loose vents or any other small gap or opening. Pigeons also like high places because they are able to keep a close watch on their surroundings and spot predators. Pigeons are social birds and each flock works as a team. Someone always has an eye out for danger.
Where do pigeons normally live?
Pigeons live in every part of the world but the North and South Poles. They started out as pets, but through accidental or intentional release have developed into perhaps the most common feral bird. Originally, they liked places with lots of grain, like farms, especially when they are near areas with good nesting sites in high and inaccessible places, like cliffs or buildings. Once known as ‘rock doves’, pigeons live anywhere there is adequate food and shelter and are common in most urban and suburban areas. Stadiums and fast-food restaurants, parks and bridges, airports and schools – all are common pigeon environments.
What is the difference between parrots and parakeets?
Parakeets are also a group of parrots. However parrots are much larger than parakeets. Parakeets are less than a foot while parrots can go to one metre long and some can weigh around four kg.
Is a flaky beak normal in parrots?
A parrot’s beak serves not only in eating, but also as a ‘hand’ in climbing. Like our nails, birds beaks are made of keratin and keep growing throughout their life time. There is always new beak tissue growth under the existing beak and, after some time, the outer beak is being sloughed off. You may see a parrot hurry the process of outer beak peeling by rubbing its beak against hard surfaces. Sometimes a poor diet will cause problems to birds’ beaks.
This can be remedied by offering a variety of fresh foods and high quality multi-vitamins/minerals supplements. A good tip is to provide a piece of cuttlebone to your pet parrot for its beak grinding. This will increase its intake of calcium and help to prevent the beak from overgrowing.
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 | May 26, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A few years ago, there was talk about how one no longer spots the humble sparrow within the city. Noticed how the number of crow sightings have also reduced? Once a staple of the Bengaluru skyline, crows are becoming a rare sight. We spoke to ornithologist MB Krishna — who, confirming that the number of crows has, in fact, reduced in the city — says that this is a warning sign.
“It’s not only crows, but a lot of other garden and woodland birds in the city whose numbers have also dwindled. As a rough rule of thumb, this drop has been by 95% for many species over the last three decades. Although there is no quantitative study done across the city yet, just like the sparrow decline, the reduction of crows is noticeable,” says Krishna, who adds that there are many reasons for this.
Crows, says Krishna, are essentially scavengers and are not getting enough food in the city. They also require a certain amount of tree cover, because crows build nests on trees and need twigs to make their nests. Due to the drastic reduction in tree cover, crows are unable to reproduce. “Another reason is the rise in pollution levels. Birds have a high metabolic rate, since flight requires a lot of energy. Therefore, crows take in a large proportion of toxins. Pollution also adversely impacts the population of some insects, which are a source of food for birds. So, crows are directly or indirectly not getting enough food,” says Krishna.
An offshoot to the reduction of crows in the city is that the number of pigeons seem to have drastically increased. “Not only pigeons,” says Krishna, adding, “The number of barn owls has also increased. Unlike crows, pigeons and barn owls can adapt to multi-story buildings. The increase in garbage in the city means that there are more rats, which is what barn owls feast on.”
So, what impact does this have on the ecology? “More than an ecological impact, birds are a warning system. Crows are important scavengers of human debris (the garbage that people throw out), but they also have a big role in sending out warning signals that something is amiss. Considering that a successful species like crows is seeing a decline in numbers sounds a warning bell to us all. The decline in green cover and the alarming rise in pollution levels will invariably have an impact on us, just as it has had on crows. These birds are telling us that it’s time to act,” signs off Krishna.
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 | May 25, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
As we are coming up to pigeon racing season again, pigeon fanciers will be taking their pigeons further away from their lofts for training, firstly to get their old birds fit, and secondly for the young birds to build up stamina and to orientate themselves to go back to the loft.
At this time of the year, there are thousands of pigeons being trained all over Gauteng and unfortunately, some do get injured or lost and there have been numerous enquiries on social media about how one goes about reporting these pigeons.
Here is some useful information for non-pigeon fanciers, should a racing pigeon land at your residence tired and/or injured:
In the first instance, you will need to check that the pigeon has a coloured identification ring on its leg, for example, GPU (Gauteng Pigeon Union) ZA17 (year of issue) 13309 (ring number).
If the pigeon does not have a ring on its leg, it is more likely a wild or feral pigeon rather than a racing pigeon.
If it is a seasoned racing pigeon, there may be an electronic ring on the pigeon’s other leg which should have a sticker on it with the telephone number of the ring steward of the union or federation that the pigeon owner belongs to.
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 | May 24, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Crested pigeons are native to Australia and one of the growing number of birds that have adapted to the impact of humans on the environment and moved into urban areas.
Originally birds of the inland, restricted to arid and semi-arid, they have gradually spread, colonising Adelaide first in the 1980s during a severe drought and later appearing in Perth and Melbourne. Crested pigeons are now commonly found on most of the mainland, with the exception of the tropical northern areas.
Like all pigeons and doves these birds have a plump body with a rounded chest and the feathers on their flanks are modified to continuously produce powder down which is used to preen feathers.
They are easily identified from other similar birds as they have a thin black crest on the head. The only other pigeon in Australia with a crest is the Spinifex Pigeon, also found in arid areas.
Crested Pigeons have grey-brown plumage which has a pinkish tinge on the underparts and pink legs and feet and a red eye ring and eye. The wings are barred with black and decorated with glossy green and purple patches that are amazingly beautiful when caught in the light.
These birds are found in lightly wooded grasslands in rural and urban areas and always near water. They feed in pairs or small flocks and are often seen on golf courses, in parklands and urban streets.
They are ground feeding birds and eat native seeds and grasses and seeds from introduced crops and weeds. Clearing land for agriculture has significantly extended their range.
The birds build a delicate nest of twigs in small trees or dense bush and produce two eggs.
Both male and female birds have a unique glandular crop which secretes “crop-milk” on which the young are reared.
One of the most intriguing features of these birds is the whirring noise made by their wings when they are alarmed and take flight. This noise is caused by an adaptation to their wing structure resulting that the eighth primary flight feathers are half the width of the others.
This difference produces a high-pitched sound when the wing is pushed down and has become a critical part of an alarm system that warns the rest of the flock to flee the danger.
No other related pigeon has this survival feature.
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 | May 23, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Exercise, as we know, is important for everybody. And this pigeon got the memo, too. It was recorded on camera hard at work as it ran on a treadmill – er, make that an escalator bannister.
The video (above) posted on Twitter shows a pigeon defying an escalator by running in the opposite direction. But give it the benefit of the doubt, maybe it was just exercising.
The video has gone viral, for good reason.
The escalator-treadmill-workout also appears to be a conspiracy in the pigeon world. In 2012, another video of a pigeon similarly using an escalator to work out went viral as well.
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)
