Sunday marks the commencement of wood pigeon hunting season which continues until the end of October. The Finnish Hunters’ Association points out that many of the birds in southern parts of the country are at present from the second brood, therefore birds flying in pairs or alone should be saved at the start of the season.
If you go into the woods today…be sure to know your wood pigeon (pictured) from your stock pigeon. The latter is a protected species.Image: Erkki Sillanpää
Wood pigeon hunting traditionally opens the start of the hunting season. Abundant populations are the main reason for the pigeon hunt, with the fleet and unpredictable bird proving highly popular game year after year.
The Hunters’ Association also points out the importance of species identification. The stock pigeon, which is a protected species, is smaller than the wood pigeon and doesn’t have white spots on its wings. Its mode of flight is also different.
Hunters should also keep in mind that they cannot move in a field in which crops are unharvested without the farmer’s permission and that the shooting without permission is prohibited within 150 metres of inhabited dwellings.
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 true sportsman or sportswoman cringes at the thought of blasting away at pigeons released from cages only yards away. Gun enthusiasts and average citizens should join in the rejection of this “sport,” one with no sense of fair chase as should be the case when hunters go into the woodlands and fields of Pennsylvania in search of game.
The arguments against live pigeon shoots are sound. The birds often are only wounded and they must be dispatched.
At the infamous Hegins, Schuylkill County pigeon shoots of the late 20th century, youngsters would race onto the field and wring the necks of wounded birds. That scene helped doom the Hegins shoot, which was the site of anti-pigeon shoot demonstrations for many years.
The use of trapped animals also is an issue. It is the antithesis of animals in the wild, including pheasants rising from the cornstalks.
Now, the state Senate has before it a bill that would ban such shoots. A live pigeon shoot was held only days ago at the Wing Pointe Resort in Berks County. Again, there is outrage that live birds are being shot when clay targets would suffice, the same clay targets tossed before thousands of shooters who agree that it is inhumane to shoot pigeons out of the air.
The Humane Society of the United States endorses the ban. The National Rifle Association supports live pigeon shoots.
It is another example of the NRA, which advocates for Second Amendment rights, going over the top and actually hurting its own cause and harming the very sportsmen and gun owners that it counts as members.
The comments of Humane Society spokesman John Goodwin carry weight. Shooting live pigeons released from cages, he said, “is no more sport that shooting chickens coming out of a henhouse.”
Should the Senate pass the bill, it is expected the state House would concur. The hope is that a bill will pass during the session that runs through October. The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee voted 10-4 for the bill. We urge the full Senate to promptly pass the legislation and send it on to the House.
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.
NORTH PEKIN — The Village Board on Monday approved an ordinance that will allow residents to own chickens, rabbits, pigeons and doves in the village limits, and another ordinance that prohibits other farm animals.
Trustees Suzan Tisdale, Gene Wamsley, Russ Blumenstock, Alex Lambie and Kathe Curless voted in favor of the ordinances. Trustee Kenney Simmons was absent. Both ordinances take effect immediately.
The first ordinance requires residents wishing to keep chickens, rabbits, pigeons and doves to obtain a free permit from the village. A resident may have only six chickens, 12 pigeons or doves, and 12 rabbits. Permits only will be issued to residents of single family lots. The housing for the animals must be 10 feet from the rear property line and side property line of a lot. The pens cannot be in the side or front yard. The shelter must be kept clean, the ordinance said.
The pens and shelters must be covered and ventilated to protect the animals from bad weather. Electric service to the structure cannot be provided by an electrical extension cord. Storage vessels containing feed for the animals must be impervious to pests and vermin, the ordinance said.
Violations of the ordinance will result in a fine of $50 to $300. For each subsequent violation, the homeowner can be fined not less that $100 nor more than $500. A separate offense means each and every day the violation continues, the ordinance said.
The board also approved an ordinance prohibiting horses, bees, cattle, sheep, ponies, goats, mules, pigs, swine, hogs, ducks, geese, roosters, minks, foxes, or any other livestock, poultry or wild or vicious animals dangerous to humans. If such an animal is found in the possession of a resident it will be confiscated. If a police officer deems the animal an immediate danger to a human, it can be killed by the officer. The owner can be responsible for the cost of impounding or killing the animal.
Mayor Steve Flowers, who only votes if a super majority or a tie-breaking vote is needed, said Tuesday there have been multiple requests over the past few years for the village to allow chickens and other animals. The board thought it was appropriate to allow residents to have such animals to “offset food bills” because of the economy. He said there was no opposition to the two ordinances.
Flowers said the ordinance protects residents as well by requiring that all of the animals be kept in pens. He said the village does not want free-roaming chickens.
The village researched the Tazewell County ordinance and those of other municipalities and came up with the document passed Monday, said Flowers.
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.
IN “THE silence of the birds” (Jan 4), wildlife scientist Umesh Srinivasan said that logged forests being converted into oil palm plantations have next to zero value for tropical biodiversity.
In land-scarce Singapore, what little that is left of our pristine primary tropical forests is mainly confined to the catchment areas, nature reserves and some offshore islands. Biodiversity can occur only with minimum human encroachment.
Wildlife can either adapt, move on or perish. Some animals have found new food sources and shelter in our urban environment and some have even flourished.
The most ubiquitous is the mynah bird, which can be seen all around, from parks to hawker centres. Their nightly gathering on roadside trees in large numbers is a constant source of nuisance, with their noise and droppings.
Another is the pigeon. If fed by people who disregard feeding prohibitions, their numbers can explode quickly. Their droppings also transmit diseases.
Cutting down trees or drastically trimming tree canopies to reduce bird roosting is not sustainable as it reduces the amount of shade for pedestrians.
The prey-predator ratio should be restored. In nature, when this delicate balance is maintained, the pool of species preyed upon will not increase beyond the point that it causes depletion of food and water resources.
In Singapore, there seems to be very few indigenous birds of prey to help bring down the population of mynahs and pigeons.
We could emulate the US, where the peregrine falcon was released in various cities to help reduce the pigeon population.
Perhaps, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority could commission a study on which species of birds are most adaptable to living in Singapore’s city area and suburbs.
There could be a breeding and release programme. GPS devices could be attached to the released birds in a way that would not restrict their movements, just like the civet cats on Ubin (“Civets on Ubin get GPS collars”; Jan 23).
If this programme proves successful, we might be able to completely solve the problem caused by the huge population of mynahs and pigeons here.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
As many as 10,000 band-tailed pigeons may have died in California this winter, according to Krysta Rogers, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Hard numbers are difficult to produce, because birds are difficult to monitor, but these estimates are based on reports of dead birds submitted by the public.
Band-tailed pigeons are California’s only native pigeon.
They are the West Coast version of the passenger pigeon, which was once the most abundant bird in North America, but it was hunted to extinction. Millions of band-tailed pigeons used to inhabit California but almost became extinct, and much of their habitat was destroyed. They were eventually protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Band-tailed pigeons are not listed as endangered. The pigeons spend their winters in the higher elevations of California’s mountain ranges before migrating in early spring to the northernmost regions of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
The sudden increase in mortality is disturbing and sad, especially because the closest living relative to the extinct passenger pigeon has been struggling for decades to recover from rampant hunting, habitat loss and other environmental problems.
Blame Non-Native Species and the Drought
The CDFW blames the deaths on Avian Trichomonosis, a disease caused by a single-celled microscopic protozoan parasite believed to have co-evolved with the common rock pigeon, which was introduced from Europe. It causes lesions to form in infected birds’ mouths and throats. The birds, which subsist largely on acorns that they swallow whole, are unable to move food down their throats and starve or can even suffocate.
What a horrible way to die.
Scientists believe that water sources, like bird feeders and stagnant pools, may play a role, and especially in the current drought conditions in California.
“These events seem to be more common in winters with less precipitation, so I do suspect there is some weather component in these mortality events,” Rogers said. “When you have large flocks and there is a disease like this circulating, and you have stagnant pools and puddles and not much flowing water, the parasite can become more concentrated in that small amount of water and the disease is going to spread more easily.”
As a result, California wildlife authorities are asking residents to take down bird baths and feeders if they spot sick or dead birds in their yards as experts closely monitor the massive die-off.
Destruction by Non-Native Species
I am reminded of what happened in New Zealand, a country I visited a month ago.
For millions of years, there were no land mammals in the country, so New Zealand birds evolved in isolation. Free from attack and competition from mammals, many birds became flightless ground-dwellers.
Migrating to New Zealand around 1250–1300, Polynesians brought kiore (the Pacific rat) and other animals. That spelled doom for those flightless birds.
The first birds to become extinct, within a century or two after human arrival, were the largest – all species of moa, both species of goose, and both adzebill species. Being flightless, all were quite easy to hunt and catch, yielding large quantities of meat. Their slow breeding rate meant they were lost faster than they could be replaced.
The list of New Zealand species known to have become extinct since human settlement includes one bat, at least 51 birds, three frogs, three lizards, one freshwater fish, four plant species, and a number of invertebrates
Then came the second wave of destruction. Europeans came in the late 18th century, bringing rats, cats, stoats, weasels and ferrets. The rabbit was introduced as a food and game animal by European settlers and by the 1870s, it was becoming a serious threat to the newly developed farming economy.
Farmers began demanding the introduction of mustelids (including stoats) to control the rabbit plague. Warnings about the dangers to bird life from stoats were given by scientists in New Zealand and Britain. However, the warnings were ignored and stoats began to be introduced from Britain in the 1880s. Within six years, drastic declines in bird populations were noticed.
The destruction in New Zealand continues.
And now the pattern is repeating itself in California, this time with the European-introduced rock pigeon potentially wiping out the native band-tailed pigeon.
How sad that tales of non-native species causing destruction keep repeating themselves around 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.
Sunday marks the commencement of wood pigeon hunting season which continues until the end of October. The Finnish Hunters’ Association points out that many of the birds in southern parts of the country are at present from the second brood, therefore birds flying in pairs or alone should be saved at the start of the season.
