Birds
Occasionally rooks, crows or magpies may cause problems but are not a common
problem. The main complaint regarding Feral Pigeons is the mess the make,
a roosting pigeon will make a considerable pile of droppings in one night.
House Martins nests should only be removed and areas proofed once the birds
have migrated to their Wintering sites.
Crows & Magpies can be shot or trapped using a Larson Crow Trap. These
are rarely a problem for domestic premises. Below are descriptions of the
3 main nuisance species: Feral Pigeons, Sparrows & Starlings. Doves are
closely related to Feral Pigeons and legally come under the same classification
when it comes to control.
Feral pigeon
Columba livia (domest.)
Pigeons are actually domesticated rock doves that have returned to wild
or semi-wild conditions. Some rock doves were domesticated for food, others
as homing pigeons, and some as ‘fancy’ pigeons, bred for their
plumage.
Life span
They average 3-5 years in the wild. Captive pigeons can live for 15 years
but some have been known to live for up to 35 years.
Statistics
Length: 29-33cm, Wingspan: 60-68cm.
Physical Description
Feral pigeons are a generally grey bird with slightly iridescent feathers
on the neck that shine pink and green in the sunlight. Coloration is
very variable with some individuals being white, others brownish-red, some
grey and many mixtures. The eyes are orange and shine brightly in the sunlight.
Distribution
Feral pigeons are widespread and very common throughout Europe. They are
also found in Africa, North America, South America and Asia.
Habitat
They inhabit coastal cliffs or buildings in towns and cities. The numbers
have increased dramatically in the past 60 years. This is mainly due
to the birds using buildings for nesting and roosting.
Diet
Wild rock doves feed on seeds but the diet of the pigeons has grown to
include bread, vegetables, meat and other food discarded by humans. Pigeons
are not generally fussy eaters, they have only 37 taste buds (humans
have around 10,000). Food is not a problem for birds in the towns and cities.
The controlling factor is the availability of night roosting and nesting
sites, of which there will be many in built up areas. It is important
for them to roost fairly high (above 2 metres is preferred) with a wall
to nestle against and be out of the wind.
Behaviour
Pigeons feed on the ground in flocks or individually. They roost together
in buildings or on walls or statues. When drinking, most birds take small
sips and tilt their heads backwards to swallow the water. Pigeons are
able to dip their bills into the water and drink continuously without having
to tilt their heads back. When disturbed, a pigeon in a group will take
off with a noisy clapping sound. This helps inform the other pigeons
that there is danger present. If a pigeon is alone it will respond to danger
by keeping very still and trying not to be noticed. Pigeons are excellent
fliers and can reach speeds of up to 50 mph. They are capable of rapid
dives and changes in direction and most of the time will easily out manoeuvre
a bird of prey.
Reproduction
During courtship the male will follow a female around bowing his head,
fanning his tail and making ‘cooing’ noises. Eventually a short
dance begins with the male’s beak being held in the female’s.
Mating occurs shortly afterward and is fairly brief. The male sits on the
female’s back flapping his wings to keep balance. It may take several
clumsy attempts before the male successfully mates with the female. Nests
are built by the female using material collected by the male. The female
lays clutches of two white eggs. Young pigeons are known as ‘squabs’.
They are fed from a special substance produced in the pigeon’s crop
known as ‘pigeon milk’. This substance is high in fat and protein
and low in carbohydrate. They will breed all the year round. This makes
culling to reduce populations not very effective unless carried out at regular
intervals. |
Starlings
Starlings are probably one of the noisiest and most gregarious garden
birds.
The Starling's plumage is mainly blackish with buff edged wing feathers.
In
winter it has white speckles above and below, the sexes are alike but
the male
has fewer speckles on the rump and wings. The speckles go in the summer
and
the plumage becomes green and purple.
The colour of the base of its yellow beak can identify the sexes in
the summer:
pink for females, blue for males. The bills are dark grey-brown in the
winter.
Young Starlings have grey-brown plumage with white speckles on the under
parts and light cream coloured throat, but moult completely in the autumn
to
the spotty adult colour, and dark greyish beak.
In flight, Starlings have pointed, triangular wings.
The Rose Coloured Starling is a common vagrant from eastern Europe In
the
summer, the adults have black and pink plumage with the breast, belly
and
back being pink. Many of these visitors are juveniles and can be mistaken
for
common juvenile Starlings, with the exception that the bill is yellowish,
the legs
are pale pink, and the plumage is a pale grey-brown with darker wings.
Starlings are good at mimicry, and will copy things such as telephones
and car
alarms, and other birds. Male Starlings can be heard singing throughout
the
year except when they are moulting in mid to late Summer.
Feeding
Starlings feed on: insects, worms, snails, berries, fruit, scraps, suet.
They
only feed invertebrates to their young.
The beak is used to probe the ground and is used to open part of the
ground
and reach any food that is buried. They will feed alongside Lapwings
in wetland
areas, feeding on the food that the Lapwings have disturbed.
Breeding
The male builds a nest from grass in a hole in a wall, tree or building,
the
female lines it with feathers, wool and moss. This is the most common
cause
of complaint, they build nests in eaves & lofts which can cause disturbance,
a
build up of droppings & insect parasites. The male may decorate the
nest with
leaves and petals in order to improve his chances of attracting a female.
The
eggs are pale light blue & about 30 mm by 21 mm. Both sexes take
turns
incubating & both feed the young. The female have been known to remove
an
egg from a neighbouring Starlings' nests and lay one of her own in its
place so
as to give her offspring a better chance of surviving.
The young usually leave by the end of May. In the winter, the starlings
roost at
night either in the city centre or in woodlands. When they roost on mass
in
town areas the droppings & noise can be a serious problem. Between
9.00 AM
and 10.00 AM, flocks of starlings will visit suburban gardens looking
for food,
and then again just before dark, when they are usually also seen bathing.
These numbers peak in the winter when migrants (up to 30 million birds
from
These numbers peak in the winter when migrants (up to 30 million birds
from
northern Europe) add to the numbers. The migrant birds have duller bills.
Starling populations have declined seriously (by over 70%) in recent
times and
they have been taken off the list of birds that can be culled. There
are several
possible causes of this decline: changes in farming practices, changes
in
grassland management, fewer nesting sites in urban areas owing to household
improvements and poorer survival rates among young birds. This may not
be a
bad thing as it has to be remembered that other species of birds are
on the
increase: Red Kites, Buzzards, Ketrels etc. |
