by Ryan Ponto | Feb 11, 2017 | UltraSonic Bird Control
This week’s bird mystery is the opposite of the one presented here last week. Last week, we had a bird that was seen and not heard; this week, we have a bird that was heard but not seen.
The sound was a kind of cooing, or perhaps hooting, that I heard while I was sitting at my desk last month. At first, I thought it was the mourning dove on the battery-driven bird clock that my Secret Santa gave me at a Herald holiday party a decade ago.
Yes, the clock is still working.
I even went downstairs to check if the hour was right.
But then I heard the cooing sound again, not on the hour and not at nearly the same time as I had heard it the first time.
The mystery deepened.
I considered the possibility that the sound could be coming from a mourning dove. Mourning doves have been known to winter here, but they are not hardy birds, mostly because their feet freeze. This leaves them unable to forage, and they starve to death.
This has been a tough winter.
So probably not a mourning dove.
Besides, the sound wasn’t quite right. The cadence was different. It had a slightly hollow sound, unlike the rich, full cooing notes of the mourning dove.
Other possibilities
So, then I wondered if it could be an owl. This is the season for owls. They’re establishing territories and establishing themselves ahead of the breeding and nesting season. There’s been a great-horned owl hanging around my place. Great-horned owls are mostly nocturnal, but it wouldn’t be impossible for an owl to be calling, especially on an overcast, gray February day.
An owl then.
Another possibility I considered was the rock dove or common pigeon. I rejected that out of hand, again because the sound was wrong and because pigeons are show-offs, seldom bothering to hide themselves. Plus, they usually occur in crowds.
So what’s left?
There’s one other possibility, and that must have occurred to some of you.
But I rejected the Eurasian collared dove because I hadn’t seen the bird, and if a collared dove were around, I would expect it to be feasting at my feeders, but I never caught it there.
Collared doves were a possibility, I knew. They’ve colonized many of the small towns in northeastern North Dakota, where they often scavenge spilled grain near elevators. I’ve had many reports from people entertaining collared doves at feeders in small towns, and some from larger communities such as Devils Lake and Grand Forks.
But I’d never heard any from the countryside.
So I was predisposed to doubt the bird could be a collared dove.
But that is what it turned out to be. I know this because I encountered two of the birds when I walked up to the mailbox late one morning. Actually, it wasn’t so much of an encounter as it was a “fly by.” The birds were heading west at velocity, moving from one sheltering evergreen to another on the other side of the yard.
There was no doubt they were collared doves. They were doves, clearly, by the elongated shape of the body and the pointed wings. They were not mourning doves because they were too large. Plus, they showed off the telltale sign of collared doves, the collar itself. This is a narrow black band at the back of the neck that is usually pretty easily seen.
The collar separates the collared dove instantly from the other doves that occur here. The rock dove is a plumper bird with shorter wings. It occurs in a broad color range. The mourning dove is similar to the collared dove in shape and general habits, but it is a more richly colored bird, brown overall but with subtle shades of tawny and rust. Plus, it has a decidedly pointed tail, giving it a kind of arrow-shape pattern in flight.
The Eurasian collared dove is a plainer bird overall, usually appearing dull gray or off white, but sometimes showing some shades of brown or even pink. It has a square tail. Importantly, too, it has outsized bright legs and feet, bright red in color—tough looking feet. These may be the assets that allow collared doves to survive winters in the Red River Valley.
The collared dove is a relatively recent immigrant, arriving in the United States about 1975 and in North Dakota in 1999. It’s become pretty well established—and for me from now on an expected, not a surprising, species.
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 Ryan Ponto | Feb 10, 2017 | Pigeons in the News
Fifteen pigeons were released around 7.30 am at the Kilinochchi railway station in celebration of the 69th Independence Day on February 4 and the birds returned to their home in Wattala with messages of peace and unity and of course phone numbers so Loni de Lanerolle could call the dignitaries still somewhere in the North to say their messages were received.
The whole trip took the pigeons less than four hours. Attended by religious heads, the Government Agent S. Arumainayagam and senior police officers, the event was organized by Loni de Lanerolle, a pegion fancier, who is an animal enthusiast and trainer of racing pigeons since childhood.
He hopes to revive the spectacle of messenger pigeons by carrying out a series of such events across the country. We were greeted by Papaya the macaw. The blue-yellow-green beauty had a lousy loud call that totally contradicted its good looks. But it was quite harmless despite its inquisitive bahaviour. Two beagles (dogs) were dozing off in a coop and it was the two Chihuahuas (breed of dog) who announced our arrival with barking and tail wagging at the same time. A few tortoises were doing their lawn rounds and the place was a mini zoo. Apparently pigeons were not Pigeon-man Loni’s only interest. He is an all-round animal enthusiast.
The pigeons were in coops while some were perched on a wooden bird perch. They were robust and the plumage around their necks glittered in sea green, pink and brown the likes of which can only exist in nature.
Their living room had the ambiance of an upcountry cottage, or one of those quaint old houses you find only in old English novels. The living room had wooden carpetted floors and one wall consisted of photographs that spanned six De Lanerolle generations. The only thing that was missing was a fireplace. Loni and his wife Monika designed their house in Wattala together. A photograph of two riders on a beach adorned another wall and with muscles gleaming and horses’ hooves splashing on the water, the photograph taken with an Instamatic camera was very lively. Loni once owned a stable with 16 horses and had previously won the Governer’s Cup. Now the stables have been replaced by a tea factory, owned and run by the Lanerolles. Loni’s olfactory senses have gone for a six because of the tea. “I was the first one to flavour tea in Sri Lanka,” informs Loni. Back in 1981 he worked with tea for many hours in his room, due to which he effectively loss his sense of smell.
He was the first to import a thoroughbred in 1996. One of Loni’s sons took to horses and is the only British qualified horse trainer in the country also known as BHSI or British Horse Society Instructor who trains members of the island’s Mounted police. “When the other kids were getting ready to go to school, my kids were out riding on the beach or learning how to bait a hook at 3am in the morning,” said Monika. That’s all their parents were interested in, the great outdoors.
“My boys can shoot,” said Loni who recalled that one of them won the Junior Nationals.
“Whatever the father did the boys also followed suit,” chipped in Monika.
When asked how she put up with a house full of people who loved the great outdoors, Monika said, “I was the only child in my family and when I married Loni it was like taking over a farm. His parents were only too glad to get rid of his pigeons and ponies,” recalled Monika laughing.
In fact, Loni bought a pair of eagles with his first salary. He bought a pony next. At one time he had owned 21 Persian cats. Ever heard of geese guarding houses? Loni’s geese do. They previously owned a watch dog in the form of a blue coot as well. “Whenever someone came to our house the blue coot would fly from its watch post and peck the visitor’s toes,” said Loni. He revealed that geese are equally territorial, guarding their home against any intruder. He owned a pair of carrier pigeons when he was very young and recalled famous stories of pigeons been used to send messages from the frontline to the main camp during wars.
Loni’s 30-strong flock consists of birds of documented champion bloodlines from Germany and Switzerland and claims that they have never fallen ill. His flock is given special vitamins imported from Australia and a special concoction of bird feed made from various grains, such as Kollu and corn according to his own ratios. “It’s an instinct,” says Monika. “He just knows what to give the birds.”
Loni can identify each bird just by looking at it. And he knows what to give them. If they look a little tired or dozing off, he gives them more Kollu as it gives them more energy.
Loni had his first pigeon trial in Puttalam against his father’s warning that he’d lose the birds. But Loni trusted his featured companions more than anyone else. It was a rainy day and the pigeon returned the following day. But he also lost a few. Once Loni released some of his pigeons at Elephant Pass and his gardener filmed the whole episode. Loni did not realize that a falcon swooped down on one of the birds which he knew only after viewing the video footage.
Ten years ago one of Loni’s friends in Germany sent him eight pigeons. They were able to get them cleared from Sri Lanka Customs, but two escaped while in quarantine. A month later his friend from Germany called to ask him whether he let two birds out in Frankfurt. Apparently they escaped from Colombo and flew 10,000 miles back to Frankfurt.
Being a hunting man Loni bagged many migratory ducks in Puttalam. “These ducks are ringed with markers and they come from Siberia which is much further than Germany. But racing homers (pigeons) are much faster than ducks”, said Loni. Loni uses his pigeons to deliver messages only when the occasion calls for it especially when there are dignitaries and the release of pigeons is deemed necessary as a symbol of peace and unity.
“Most of them (dignitaries) don’t believe that pigeons can actually carry messages. So when the birds fly back with the phone numbers and we call them, they are quite shocked,” said Loni. “Sometimes the pigeons have beaten the dignitaries to Colombo.” The trick of the trade is to keep the ladies at home, something that most pigeon breeders know. But Loni has gone a step further and usually keeps the males and females in separate cages. The night before they are to be let out he allows the lads to meet their ladies. Once they are released, whether it’s Colombo or Kilinochchi or Point Pedro, they find their way to their partners.
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 Ryan Ponto | Feb 9, 2017 | Pigeon Spikes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Pigeons are disappearing from New York City streets, but not for natural reasons.
As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, some say the birds meet a violent death across state lines after being illegally snatched up in broad daylight.
Pigeons are affectionately – or perhaps derisively – called flying rats. Indeed, they may not be the most beloved New York City wildlife.
But the NYPD said removing them from city streets is illegal.
That has not seemed to stop one man, who was seen trapping at least a dozen unsuspecting birds in Greenpoint, Brooklyn earlier this week.
“It’s really bizarre,” said one woman who witnessed the trapping.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, said birdseed was used as a lure
“With a massive net — looked like a big butterfly net — he captured a bunch of pigeons and threw them in to a van, and then drove off,” she said.
Someone who appeared to be the same man was captured on cellphone video in the East Village last year, walking away with a net full of birds.
In the most recent incident, he was seen on surveillance video walking down the sidewalk with the large net and he appeared to pounce on the unsuspecting birds just around the corner. Another angle showed some pigeons fluttering away after the net was thrown.
The man hurries across the street with his catch to the waiting van.
“It’s obvious that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and he was probably doing something kind of nefarious with the pigeons and that’s why he didn’t want to be caught,” the woman said.
The Humane Society of the United States said the practice is an ongoing problem.
“Pigeon netting has been going on for some time,” said Brian Shapiro of the Humane Society.
The Humane Society claimed the pigeons caught in New York are sold across state lines to Pennsylvania, one of the few states that allows live pigeon shoots.
The practice is controversial, but legislative bills to end it in that state have never passed.
“I think it’s more than coincidence that whenever we see events happening in Pennsylvania, that we hear of pigeon nettings happening here in New York City,” Shapiro said.
The Humane Society of the United States said there is a bird shooting event in Pennsylvania this weekend. But where the birds are coming from is unclear.
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 Ryan Ponto | Feb 8, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A couple of weeks ago, a feral pigeon arrived on my doorstep, and forced me to reconsider some cherished preconceptions.
It had been attacked, by a cat, perhaps by a gull. All its tail feathers were missing, raw flesh was exposed on its rump. When I tried to shoo it away, it couldn’t, or wouldn’t, budge.
Why was I shooing it away? Well, I like to think I take a tough-minded attitude to these things. Wild animals kill and eat each other all the time. An injured pigeon is a meal for some other hungry creature. Part of me thinks we should never interfere in these interactions.
Victims of predators are generally weak or sick. Predation not only feeds the attacker, but benefits the health and ultimately the evolution of the prey species.
However, that rational but rather cold Darwinian argument seemed less and less compelling, every time I stepped over the unfortunate bird. It had an uncanny way of catching my eye with its own tiny green one. I don’t delude myself that it was asking for my help, but it was certainly suffering.
And there just didn’t seem to be any good excuse for not helping a suffering being.
Unlikely to survive
But I had a tough-minded way to deal with that notion too, though it didn’t last more than a few minutes. I assumed, for no very clear reasion, that the pigeon was most unlikely to survive. Therefore I should just put it out of its misery.
But how? I’ve wrung a blackbird’s neck after hitting it with my car, many years ago, but a subsequent effort to kill a pigeon in similar circumstances turned out disastrously. No point in making this one’s suffering any worse…and upsetting myself more, if I’m honest.
So, hours later than I should have, I began googling emergency vet numbers. One referred me to Kildare Animal Rescue. That seemed like too long a shot for a Stoneybatter resident, but within 20 minutes a trained volunteer arrived from nearby Cabra to take the pigeon away. To my surprise, it has not been euthanised, but is apparently making a full recovery. It may soon be returned to its natural urban habitat.
Curious to find out more, I went to see the Kildare foundation for myself. It was founded in 1994 by Geraldine O’Hanlon, who still runs it. My guide was Dan Donoher, who has worked at the wildlife unit full time for 15 years, after volunteering aged 17. His commitment and practical, professional approach were evident.
The foundation is near Kildare town, in a farmhouse surrounded by outbuildings, many of which are occupied by dozens of abandoned pets. These are rehabilitated and, where possible, offered to new homes.
But the wildlife unit is different, orientated towards eventual release. It had 43 inmates when I visited. We started in the hospital section, where injured animals are confined in small cages for recuperation, often after surgery by specialist vets.
Two buzzards, each with a wing in an incongruously coloured vetwrap sling, glared at us when Donoher pulled back the curtain on their cages. The centre has nursed a dozen of these large birds of prey back to health recently, largely due to a spate of shooting incidents. This seems to have been sparked by sensational media reports claiming falsely that they kill pets and livestock.
Poisoned prey is a problem too, and children at Scoil Bhríde in Kilcullen were amazed to find a very sick buzzard staggering around their school yard one morning last year. They contacted the centre, and the bird recovered in its care.
The children were then able to witness the stirring spectacle of the bird their school had saved taking to the air again.
The hospital section also contained a rook, a rabbit, feral and wood pigeons and a collared dove, a mallard, a black-headed gull and a blackbird. All had been found injured by members of the public, sometimes passed on by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This agency has statutory responsibility for injured wildlife, and licences every individual cared for by the centre.
Climate
There was a severely underweight hedgehog, apparently tricked by this very mild winter to emerge too early from hibernation. It had found few worms, snails and insects to build up its strength again. Its plight is probably another indication of the myriad impacts of our changing climate.
Out in a larger recuperation unit, the animals have much more space to exercise, before moving to an outdoor area that is the last stage before release. However, in some instances, such as foxes found as cubs, an inmate is assisted through a further stage with a mobile post-release shelter. This is placed out in the wild, and they can come and go to be fed until they learn to hunt for themselves.
Donoher says the centre has monitored several of its releases, including badgers and pine martens, through radio-tagging, and they generally appear to survive and thrive. See badgerdiary.net/the-beginning/
The only other full-time worker at the centre is Michael O’Toole. Like Donoher, he describes the work as very rewarding, though not, he concedes, in financial terms. “There are other riches in life,” he says.
There were three volunteers working there the day I visited. Martina Broughall is a nurse, and gives up her free Saturdays plus a morning a week to work there. There were also two transition year students, Lauren Reynolds from St Conleth’s Community College in Newbridge, and Lisa Lyons from Scoil Mhuire in Clane.
They spoke with infectious enthusiasm about their work. “It’s much more interesting than working in retail or something like that,” said Lauren. “We got to hold a ferret, see foxes up close.”
“I was surprised by the buzzard,” says Lisa. “I never knew we had such big birds of prey.”
They say the experience is leading them to consider careers involving “something in the line of animals.”
I left feeling more than a little humbled. There are more paths into engagement with nature than birding, botany, ecology and conservation activism. And Darwinism doesn’t offer helpful answers to every encounter with a wild animal.
Finding help for injured animals
“We can’t keep up with the demand,” says Emma Higgs, director of Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland. She now logs up to 4,000 wild animal casualties a year, far more than the National Parks and Wildlife Service, overstretched as ever, had been aware of.
Higgs is a veterinary nurse who set up this group to co-ordinate the activities of people who want to help injured wild animals recover, from individuals to institutions such as the Kildare foundation.
WRI has organised 17 training courses for 20 people each over the last five years. Higgs is working full time pro bono, but aims to set up a wildlife rehabilitation and teaching hospital eventually.
If you find an injured animal, before taking any action you should contact one of the WRI contacts list
And, as spring comes on, do remember that fledgling birds and young animals that may appear abandoned are actually in the care of a nearby parent, and are best left well alone.
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 Ryan Ponto | Feb 7, 2017 | Bird Netting
Pigeons are a facet of New York City life that are so ubiquitous that you probably wouldn’t even notice if one or two or a dozen of your neighborhood flying rats went missing. Which seems to be the theory a man wandering around Greenpoint is counting on, considering that earlier this week he was seen snatching up pigeons in a huge net. And sadly, it’s probably not because he’s just a very eager pigeon trainer.
According to CBS2, at least one witness saw a man place down birdseed as a lure on a Greenpoint street, lunge at the pigeons who came to eat it with a big butterfly net and then quickly take his net full of pigeons into a van. The anonymous witness’ account is corroborated by surveillance footage from the area, which shows the net-wielding man leap off the screen and re-appear with a net full of squirming birds. Other footage from the same block, taken at the same time, shows startled birds flying away from something, but the actual trapping of the birds wasn’t caught on camera.
“It’s obvious that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and he was probably doing something kind of nefarious with the pigeons and that’s why he didn’t want to be caught,” the witness told CBS.
She was right to assume the man was up to no good, since as we went over that time someone was suspected of stealing all the pigeons from Washington Square Park, the birds are most likely brought across state lines to Pennsylvania, where they’re used as live target practice. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that still allows the birds to be used as live target practice according to CBS. Even if the man didn’t have a nefarious end for the pigeons, it’s still illegal to trap the birds in New York City without a permit.
Last year, a similar-looking man from the CBS story was seen stealing pigeons off the street in the East Village, before throwing the squirming bag of birds into a van:
The practice of illegally trapping pigeons became enough of an issue that people put up flyers decrying the practice, one of which a tipster sent Gothamist in 2015:
One thing I know for sure: This dude better pray that Mike Tyson doesn’t catch him stealing pigeons.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
