When travelling in groups, animals frequently have to make decisions on the direction of travel. These decisions can be based on consensus, when all individuals take part in the decision (i.e. democratic decision; social information), or leadership, when one member or a minority of members make the decision (i.e. despotic decision; personal information). Here we investigated whether decision-making on the navigation of small flocks is based on democratic or despotic decisions. Using individual and flock releases as the experimental approach, we compared the homing performances of homing pigeons that fly singly and in groups of three. Our findings show that although small groups were either governed (i.e. when individuals in the flock had age differences) or not (i.e. when individuals in the flock had the same age) by leaders, with concern to decision-making they were all ruled by democratic decisions. Moreover, the individual homing performances were not associated with leadership. Because true leaders did not assume right away the front position in the flock, we suggest that as in human groups, starting from a central position is more effective as it allows leaders to not only transmit their own information but also to average the tendencies of the other group members. Together, the results highlight the importance of democratic decisions in group decision-making.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
If you do a Google search for “Darwin bird” you will find endless references to the finches of the Galápagos Islands. But it took a long time for Charles Darwin to recognize their significance. When he collected them he did not even realize that they were related, considering some to be “grosbeaks,” others true finches, and others blackbirds. He even considered one warblerlike finch to be a kind of wren.
In fact, during and soon after the historic around-the-world voyage of the HMS Beagle, from 1831 to 1836, Darwin had not yet come to the idea that different islands might be inhabited by different species. As his biographer Janet Browne put it, “He experienced no legendary moment of inspiration.” He was more interested in butterflies. When he returned to London, Darwin dispersed his enormous collection of specimens to the specialists at the Royal Zoological Society. It was only then that ornithologist John Gould told him that the Galápagos birds he had thought were a mixture of blackbirds, grosbeaks, and finches were actually 12 species of finches.
A better case might be made that the most important bird in Darwin’s studies was the humble domestic pigeon. In fact, one of the first readers of the manuscript that would become On the Origin of Species, in 1859, disliked most of the book intensely. Whitwell Elwrin wrote to the publisher, John Murray, and called the text “a wild & foolish piece of imagination . . . for an outline it is too much & for a thorough discussion of the question it is not near enough.” Rather than tell the publisher to reject the manuscript, he consulted Darwin’s friend, geologist Charles Lyell, who had already suggested that the book should focus on Darwin’s observations on pigeons. Elwrin recommended that Darwin write a short book on pigeons. “Everybody is interested in pigeons,” he told him, and a book like this would “be reviewed in every journal in the kingdom and soon be on every table.”
The Origin of Pigeons? Although it sounds funny today, the breeding of fancy pigeons and other pedigreed animals was something of a craze in Victorian England, one that crossed class lines, attracting enthusiasts ranging from miners and weavers to Queen Victoria. When Darwin began studying and breeding pigeons in 1856, he soon became as enthusiastic about the wonderfully varied breeds as any working-class fancier. As Janet Browne says, “Darwin loved his pigeons . . . he spent hours reading self-help manuals and books by breeders to make sure he was doing the right thing and visiting shows and exhibitions to see what was available. He found it very entertaining hobnobbing with breeding experts and trying to exude an air of practical knowledge as he leaned over cages of absurdly ruffled feathers. The esoteric world of pigeon fanciers seemed to him delightfully fresh and curious.”
At first he was not without a little upper-class condescension. He wrote to Huxley, “I sat one evening in a gin palace in the Borrough amongst a set of pigeon fanciers, when it was hinted that Mr. Bolt had crossed his Pouters with Runts to gain size: and if you had seen the solemn, the mysterious, and awful shakes of the head, which all the fanciers gave at this scandalous proceeding, you would have recognized how little crossing has had to do with improving breeds, and how dangerous for endless generations the process was. All this was brought home far more vividly than by pages of mere statements & c.”
Soon, however, he met more scholarly and “respectable” fanciers. His most important friend in the pigeon world became the journalist and editor William Tegetmeier. Their association lasted for more than 10 years and was mutually beneficial. Tegetmeier provided Darwin with specimens, information, and contacts. Tegetmeier, who seems to have been a bit of a social climber, loved to brag about his intimacy with Darwin.
Darwin’s family fell in love with pigeons as well. His daughter Henrietta later wrote, “I can still recall their different characteristics: a cross old fantail when taking food from my hand liked to take a good peck & hurt me if he could. The Pouter pigeon was good-natured but not clever, and I remember a hen Jacobin which I considered rather feeble-minded.” Darwin wanted all of his friends to be as delighted with his pigeons as he was. He wrote Lyell, “I hope Lady Lyell & yourself will remember whenever you want a little rest & have time how very glad we should be to see you here. I will show you my pigeons! Which is the greatest treat, in my opinion, which can be offered to human beings.”
Although his study of pigeons informed The Origin of Species, Darwin’s real “pigeon book,” The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, did not come out until 1868. Its long and beautifully illustrated section on pigeons is still readable and relevant to both naturalists and pigeon fanciers today.
He begins, “I have been led to study domestic pigeons with particular care because the evidence that all the domestic races are descended from one known source is far clearer than with any other anciently domesticated animal. Secondly, because many treatises in several languages, some of them old, have been written on the pigeon, so that we are enabled to trace the history of several breeds. And lastly, because, the amount of variation has been extraordinarily great. . . . I have kept alive all the most distinct breeds, which I could procure in England or from the Continent; and have prepared skeletons of all. I received skins from Persia, and a large number from India and other quarters of the world. Since my admission to two of the London pigeon-clubs I have received the kindest assistance from some of the most eminent amateurs. . . . I do not hesitate to affirm that some domestic races of the rock-pigeon differ fully as much from each other in external characters as do the most distinct natural genera.”
Every one of the illustrated breeds in Variation exists and is shown today. Some, such as the English pouter and the African owl, have not visibly changed in the last 150 years. Others, such as the carrier, barb, and fantail, have become even more exaggerated and differentiated from the ancestral Rock Pigeon by the strange and unnatural selection of shows, just as dogs and other domestic animals have. The carriers’ already exaggerated beak wattle has grown larger than a walnut; such birds are prone to colds and eye diseases—so much so that in Germany legislation was passed limiting the size of the wattle in the breed! The barb, in Darwin’s day a short-billed bird with large circular eye ceres, now has such a short bill that it is unable to feed its own young (foster parents are required) and has a carrier-like wattle cramped between the short bill and its forehead. The engraving of the fantail in Variation shows a bird with a turkeylike fan that today’s birds possess, but Darwin’s bird has a graceful, erect, swan-like neck. Today’s birds carry their heads so far back against their tails that from the front their heads are invisible. From that vantage point they look like a headless ball in front of a circular tail.
Such changes would probably have fascinated Darwin, who wrote, “There is hardly any exception to the rule that those characters vary most which are now most valued and attended to by fanciers, and which consequently are now being improved by continued selection.” Whether such exaggeration is good for the individual birds is another question. The breeding of domestic show animals is a biological art but can be warped by too much passion for the extreme and strange. One need not go to the lengths of the Germans. A pigeon fancier all my life, I gave up breeding modern carriers because curing their constant colds became depressing. Darwin himself showed that crossing the extreme varieties produced something very much like the ancestral Rock Pigeon. Most show pigeons would not survive long in the wild, but their descendents, common “street pigeons,” inhabit cities and cliffs everywhere in the world. Except for their variable colors and slightly larger size, they resemble the wild Rock Pigeon, which they have displaced in all but the most remote places. Some scientists consider them to be a “superdove,” a bird stronger and more adaptable than even its wild ancestors. Evolution, of course, is never stasis. I have seen wild Rock Pigeons only on remote cliffs on the Euphrates, but “superdoves” thrive in environments ranging from the sweltering streets of Houston to the 30-below-zero squares of Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, in winter.
But the domestic pigeon still holds a unique charm for both fanciers and naturalists. The genetics of its colors alone support a quarterly newsletter for scientists and enthusiasts. Some show people, like dog breeders fixated on Westminster, pursue ever-more-exaggerated standards. Others prefer less “improved” birds. I started out with modern racing homers, a breed developed in Belgium and England in the early 1800s, originally a carrier of messages but also a racing competitor. It is a stout, athletic bird. Most non-fanciers see little difference between it and a common pigeon, though it is larger and more muscular, and has a larger head and wattles than the Rock Pigeon. Such a bird can survive very well in the wild. The genes of lost racers probably contribute to the continuing evolution of the “superdove.”
Over the past 20 or 30 years, naturalist and breeder friends of mine have become fascinated by the ancient, “unimproved” pigeon breeds of the Silk Road and the Mediterranean. Such breeds may have existed for thousands of years. They have enough diversity to satisfy Charles Darwin; in fact, many—such as the English barb—are exactly as Darwin, or Shakespeare (who wrote about them), saw them. I have Catalonian tumblers—small pigeons in a dazzling variety of colors—that are agile enough to evade marauding Cooper’s Hawks; Syrian owls that are short-beaked, similarly agile, and, unlike modern show owls, can feed their own young; and English barbs, which are virtual duplicates of the illustrations of them in Darwin’s Variation. I have Spanish pouters that inflate their globes just as much as do modern show pouters. But they must remain athletic, because they are used in the remarkable Spanish sport of “thieving” in which the males compete to seduce marked females to their home lofts. All of these breeds remain functional but retain enough diversity and beauty to satisfy the most aesthetically-minded fancier. And, unlike the often-inbred champions of pigeon and dog shows, they retain, as Darwin noted, enough genetic variation to make each new clutch a suspenseful delight. Show pigeons often resemble clones.
To a naturalist and biophiliac, the humble domestic pigeon can come to occupy a necessary place in one’s life, as it did in Darwin’s. Beautiful and ever-changing, they are a backyard microcosm that embodies Darwin’s most fundamental quote: “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
This week, a South African call-center business, frustrated by persistently slow Internet speeds, decided to use a carrier pigeon named Winston to transfer 4 gigabytes of data between two of its offices, just 50 miles apart. At the same time, a computer geek pushed a button on his computer to send data the old-fashioned way, through the Internet.
Winston the pigeon won. It wasn’t even close.
“Winston arrived after two hours, six minutes, and 57 seconds,” says Kevin Rolfe, head of the information technology department at Unlimited Group, a call-center business based in Durban. As for the Internet data transfer, he says, “when we finally stopped the computer, about 100 megs had transferred, which is about 4 percent of the total.”
Officially, the Unlimited Group has not given up on the Internet, nor has it any plans to embrace the use of homing pigeons that was pioneered on the battlefield by Genghis Khan. But while the pigeon-versus-Internet stunt was a resounding success in terms of satire, it also makes a point that many businesses throughout Africa are making: Africans pay some of the highest prices for some of the least reliable Internet service in the world. And if a country like South Africa – relatively prosperous and developed – can’t solve this problem, then it’s going to need a lot more pigeons.
In most parts of Africa, Internet service is provided by satellite transmission dishes, an expensive and unreliable option. Go to an Internet cafe in Kinshasa or Khartoum, and you’ll see dozens of earnest students and businessmen, typing out messages, pushing the send button, and then hoping the power doesn’t go out before the message gets sent.
Your humble correspondent in Africa last year attempted to send about one minute of digital video of displaced people in Kenya to his headquarters in Boston, through the so-called broadband Internet service provided at his Nairobi hotel. Six hours later, there was still an hourglass icon on his screen, with a message that simply read “sending.”
Undersea cable brings broadband to some
In theory, Africa’s problems are already well on their way to being solved. A $650 million undersea cable, linking the Kenyan port city of Mombasa with a larger sea cable system servicing Asia, was officially activated in late July of this year, bringing most major cities in East Africa their first taste of high-speed broadband Internet. But three months later, local Internet service providers have refused to drop their prices, offering increased bandwidth at the same price.
Some African nations have gone all-out to get the most bang out of the cable. Rwanda, for instance, has extended a high-speed fiber-optic cable network to every district and every major town in the country in anticipation of the cable, in hopes of turning itself into an information-technology hub like Singapore. Others, like South Africa, have been updating their systems, but can’t keep up with the exploding demand.
Which brings us back to Winston the pigeon. Mr. Rolfe says the idea for the pigeon race came from a member of his IT department, who remembered an April Fool’s joke of sending data by homing pigeons. After one too many incidents of a dropped line or a failed transfer, one IT tech finally blurted out, “We should just use pigeons.”
Taking a cue from former empires
As unusual as the idea sounds today, pigeons have been a powerful tool for empires, financial and otherwise. In the mid-19th century Paul Julius Reuter (founder of the Reuters news agency) used pigeons to send stock information between the cities of Aachen and Brussels, until telegraph service eventually replaced them. And as recently as World War I the British admiralty used pigeons to send battlefield information. (The Germans, predictably, trained falcons to intercept messages.)
Never a company to do things in half-measures, Unlimited Group began to promote its Pigeon Race 2009 on its website. Winston the pigeon soon had his own Facebook fan page, a website with training videos, and yes, Winston began to tweet. On Twitter. When Winston finally landed at the offices in Durban – risking hawks, gun-happy hunters, and high-winds – the results were carried by newspapers, TV stations, and were a huge sensation in the Twittersphere.
Winston’s feat illustrates larger problem
Perhaps stung by the pigeon experiment, South Africa’s giant communications company, Telkom, issued a statement to the South African Press Agency explaining that it was not to blame for Unlimited Group’s slow internet service.
“Telkom would like to clarify that the company cannot be blamed for this particular customer’s lack of throughput speeds,” Troy Hector, Telkom’s head of ICT, wrote to Sapa in an e-mail. “Several recommendations have, in the past, been made to the customer but none of these have, to date, been accepted. It must also be noted that Telkom is not the customer’s core service provider.”
Rolfe insists that the pigeon experiment was not aimed at any one particular company, but rather at the common problem that Internet have: slow Internet speed. A customer like Unlimited Group, which transmits an average of 500 megabytes of data per day, can’t afford to have unreliable connectivity.
“Look, we don’t blame Telkom or Neotel, or any of the other Internet providers,” says Rolfe. “Those guys, the providers are doing the best job that they can. But we are saying, fine, let’s sit down and think out of the box and figure out how to improve South Africa’s telecommunications.”
As for Winston, Rolfe says the pigeon is in no danger of losing his job. “He still goes out on training runs,” Rolfe says, especially when the computer lines are down. “Using pigeons, it’s not the optimal plan,” he chuckles. “But we may do it from time to time, to give Winston some airtime.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
A recent first detection of pigeon aviadenovirus-1 and pigeon circovirus co-infection associated with Young Pigeon Disease Syndrome (YPDS) in a pigeon flock in Turkey, prompted a study focused on documenting the distribution of Pigeon aviadenovirus (PiAdV-1 and PiAdV-2), Pigeon circovirus (PiCV), Columbid alphaherpesvirus 1 (pigeon herpesvirus (PiHV)) and Fowl aviadenovirus (FAdV) in the country. These viruses were selected as they are associated with severe disease in pigeons across the world. A total of 192 cloacal swabs were collected from young (<1 year old) pigeons from 16 different private pigeon flocks across Turkey, between 2018 and 2021 as part of routine diagnostic sampling. PiCV genetic material was the most frequently detected 4/16 (25%), PiAdV-1 and CoHV-1 DNA were both found in one flock each, while neither PiAdV-2 and FAdV were detected in any of the studied pigeon flocks. PiCV and PiHV genetic material were both detected in the same pigeon flock’s cloacal samples as a co-infection with the identification of PiHV being a first in Turkey.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Among the most famous images of London’s Trafalgar Square is one of people feeding pigeons in its grounds. And closer to home, feeding these birds was a favourite pastime on the weekends around the Vidhana Soudha, when people flocked to it for a bit of relaxation in its gardens. But no more, as the pigeons are now as numerous in most parts of the city as they were once around it.
Far from feeding them, people have now taken to shooing them away as they invade their balconies and kitchens, building nests and dirtying them with their poop and feathers. Their numbers have become their downfall as they are no longer priced as pets either. Instead they are the flying rats of urban Bengaluru.
Observes one fed up Bengalurean, industrialist, Narendra Kumar, “Pigeons have adapted so well to our urban civilisation that they are driving other birds away. Cleaning pigeon droppings has become a huge problem today. People in high- rise buildings are the worst affected and even the plants on the balconies suffer as a result of their invasion.”
But what’s worse, the pigeon droppings are not just an eyesore, but also a health hazard, warn wildlife experts. With the pigeon population growing, they have been spreading diseases like avian influenza and castle fever through their droppings, according to them. “ The pigeon droppings contain bacteria and fungus, which can cause major lung disorders that can be fatal,” they explain.
It is also claimed that those who fall sick as a result of the pigeon droppings, find recovery hard despite downing antibiotics, because of the strong infection they transmit. Bird lovers too admit to being on their guard when it comes to these birds because of the infections and diseases they transmit.
The BBMP , which has received numerous complaints from people about the pigeon menace, is now planning to hold a meeting with wildlife experts, bird lovers , health experts and concerned citizens to deal with it, says Mr Sarfaraz Khan, BBMP joint commissioner (health).
The civic agency is reportedly considering taking a cue from other countries, which have effectively dealt with the growing population of pigeons without harming the ecology and is also planning a study on their impact on humans, animals and other bird species.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Pigeons may seem harmless, but these pest birds cause millions of dollars in damage every year to buildings, ventilation systems, machinery, statues, roofs, and much more. Bird droppings and nesting materials left by pigeons pose physical problems and health hazards that can become very serious if not corrected quickly making prompt and effective professional bird control is often essential.
Potential Health Hazards:
There are many health risks associated with pigeons and their droppings. The bacteria, fungi, and ectoparasites that they and their droppings harbor are numerous. The four most common ways disease is passed by bird to human are: inhalation of fecal dust, food and water contaminated with bird feces, direct contact with feces, and parasitic transfer.
Pigeon droppings can expose humans to many diseases, including salmonella, Newcastle disease, candidiasis, encephalitis, orthosis, and toxoplasmosis. In addition, they can also carry cryptococcosis, and coccidiodomycosis, which cause meningitis. The droppings may also harbor growth of fungus, which causes histoplasmosis. Fleas, lice, mites, and other pests often live on these birds, hitching a ride to where ever they want to jump off. Pigeons may also attract other pests, such as rats, which feed on dead pigeons and food that well-intentioned bird lovers may scatter for them.
In addition to disease, bird droppings are known for triggering people to slip and fall, which makes it especially important to rid the birds from highly trafficked areas.
Damage Caused by Pigeons:
These are messy birds, leaving droppings everywhere they go, particularly near their roost sites. Pigeon droppings are not just gross, they are also full of uric acid which makes them extremely corrosive. The droppings are the direct cause of millions of dollars in damage to buildings and other structures. Particularly vulnerable are painted surfaces, awnings, signs, and other similar surfaces. A tragic example of the corrosiveness of pigeon droppings is the Minnesota bridge accident in 2007, which was found to be the direct result of bird droppings eating away at the metal bridge supports until they weakened.
In addition to the damage cause by their acidic droppings, pigeon nests can also cause damage. Pest birds will often build nests in gutters or on roof corners blocking essential drainage systems. Every year several warehouses experience roof damage, and even collapse, when drainage systems have been blocked and standing water rises just six inches. Bird nests can also block ventilation systems, which not only prevents exhaust of potentially harmful gases, but also has the potential to spread diseases. Fire is also a potential hazard. Nesting materials are usually flammable, consisting of twigs, straw, grasses and dried droppings. When pest birds build their nests inside electric signs or other machinery there is a great risk of fire.
Pigeons are creatures of habit and highly social. Once they have found a cozy spot the will return again and again, bringing along more of their pigeon pals. Prolific breeders, pigeons can hatch several broods a year, sometimes even laying a new clutch before the previous have even hatched. Often our buildings and structures have architectural features such as drain spouts and eaves that make perfect nesting spots for these birds. Pigeons are comfortable around humans and they’re hard to scare away or deter. Once a flock of stubborn unwanted pigeons have set up shop in/on your building, it can be stubbornly resistant to removal, often requiring the services of a pest control or animal control professional. As is true of many pests that invade our homes and businesses, the first step to controlling feral pigeons is to remove their food source.
Tips to deter pigeons:
Don’t feed the pigeons.
Screen drains and gutters to make your property less attractive to pigeons.
Encourage children to pick up spilled food – and teach them NOT to feed pigeons
Keep areas around trash bins and outdoor dining areas clean
Eliminate water sources such as bird baths, over-watered lawns, or kiddy pools.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Pigeons are highly social animals and are incredibly smart creatures. But did you know pigeons carry many diseases and parasites linked to their droppings? When pigeons start roosting on your property, they will rapidly create a vast mess with their poop. Not only are pigeon droppings in your home disgusting, but they can carry major risks to your wellbeing and can cause havoc on your property. However, the danger varies depending on the invasion. If you have a pigeon invasion on your property, there is a huge risk of your family members contracting illnesses from their droppings. Histoplasmosis, Candidiasis, Cryptococcosis, Psittacosis, Encephalitis, and Salmonellosis are some of the deadly diseases spread through pigeon droppings. The safe bet is to handle your pigeon invasion quickly by calling a professional pest control company to eradicate any risk of disease.
In addition to the disease and infection, pigeons can also carry parasites, ticks, and mites. A dead pigeon is more of a breeding ground for flies and pests. We at Accurate Pest Control believe, the more established the pigeon infestation, the more significant danger of having these pests getting into your property.
How hazardous are Pigeon droppings?
When an individual breaths dust or water droplets of contaminated bird droppings, it can cause several diseases, including aflu-like illness known as Psittacosis.
Salmonella is a bacterial virus that can cause Diarrhea. Pigeons with this type of bacteria can spread it through their droppings.
One must take safety measures when they are cleaning up or come in contact with pigeon droppings. Make sure to rinse your hands and clean any bare skin before eating, drinking, or placing your hands near your mouth. Similarly, if you are feeding or handling birds, wash your hands afterwards.
Individuals with a compromised immune system, like HIV/AIDS or cancer, must avoid cleaning the droppings as it can be fatal.
How can you catch it?
Anyone can become affected if he/she breathes it in. The infant who died at the hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, had been exposed to the fungus. Experts reveal the apparent source has been traced to a room on the rooftop of the hospital.
Bird feces and feathers can disturb your home’s heating and cooling modules and indoor air quality.
Pigeon droppings contaminated with bacteria or viruses are often left on the windowsills and cars to dry out.
The best thing you can do to get rid of your pigeon problem is to call licensed pest control in San Antonio, Texas. Our Wildlife animal control in San Antoniouses proper techniques to keep your home or business free from unwanted critters and ensure that these creatures are removed safely. To improve the situation, you must ensure all areas are properly cleaned, and preventive measures are taken to stop the birds from invading your home/property.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
If you’re heading to catch a bus at the Osborne station rapid transit stop, you might want to watch where you step.
Everywhere you look, every surface is covered in pigeon poop.
“It’s terrible,” said one bus rider. The man also told Global News, it’s been an ongoing issue he’s noticed for months. He said in September, the issue was worse.
Transit riders contacted Global News about the state of the station and health concerns.
“They need some time to clean it up. You can see it all over windows. Someone needs to take a mop to this place,” the rider said.
Pigeon poop can be hazardous to humans, and the build-up of pigeon feces on buildings and other structures is not only visually unappealing and but pigeon droppings are acidic and erode metal and stonework, according to Health Canada.
Pigeons have been associated with a variety of diseases, including histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis.
Histoplasmosis is a disease caused by a fungus that grows in pigeon droppings. The fungus can also be found in bat droppings or in the soil, and is carried by the wind. When removing droppings, people may breathe in some of the fungus. When exposure is high, the fungus can cause infection.
Cryptococcosis is another fungal disease related to pigeon droppings and grows in soils throughout the world. It is very unlikely that healthy people will become infected even at high levels of exposure. A major risk factor for infection is a compromised immune system.
The union representing transit workers also said it would be looking into the situation.
“We want to thank transit riders for bringing these concerns forward, which we certainly take seriously,” Everett Rudolph, Executive Vice President for the ATU said in an email statement.
The City of Winnipeg said the station is cleaned twice a week.
“Orkin Canada was contracted by Winnipeg Transit in the beginning of November to assess and provide recommendations based on industry best practices,” said a city spokesperson.
“They immediately performed an evaluation of the site, and recommended installing feeder units in the vicinity of Osborne Station containing ‘OvoControl P’ which controls the reproduction of pigeons.”
Two feeder units installed in late November are being filled with bait daily, said the city.
“The program will run for a trial period of six months, during which time we will evaluate the effectiveness of the program.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Heading to his usual Sunday morning yoga class in Leslieville a few years ago, my husband, Peter, gave silent thanks when he found a sent-from-above parking spot right in front of the studio. He quickly eased his black Honda Fit, Jellybean, into the space and dashed to his class.
When Peter came out an hour and a half later, his car was so coated in poop he barely recognized it. “It looked like a bunch of elephants with wings had flown over my car and relieved themselves,” he said.
There were no pachyderms to be seen. Pigeons? Yes. Right above Jellybean a couple of hydro wires sagged under the weight of dozens of the city birds. There was only one thing to do. Peter drove straight to the old-timey car wash at Parliament and Front and paid the price to have the carapace of excrement removed. Twice.
Then there was the time our son’s girlfriend, Lisa, got pooped on at the bus stop at Lower Gerrard and Coxwell as she waited for her northbound bus to the subway. This stop is notorious for its pigeon problem and Lisa knew to be vigilant. But on this particular day she was running late for work, on her phone and not paying attention to the birds lined up like so many grey bombers in formation above her. When the bomb-bay doors opened, the blast hit her freshly washed hair. Thinking quickly, she dashed into one of the restaurants in Little India, washed the mess out and continued on her way.
Just another day trying to coexist peacefully with pigeons, the birds first dubbed “rats with wings” by New York City parks commissioner Thomas Hoving in 1966.
I didn’t think too much more about my family members’ run-ins with the tubby birds known officially as rock pigeons and formerly as rock doves. But a few weeks ago, our daughter, Em, mentioned that a family of pigeons had been hanging out on the peaked roof outside her bedroom window. That got my attention. In the more than 20 years we’ve lived here, none of us had ever seen a pigeon on any part of our roof.
Then a couple of nights ago, when I had my bedroom window open to allow the sweet-smelling evening breezes in, I heard faint noises that sounded like the scritch-scratch of bubble-gum pink feet moving about in our eavestroughs.
The next day, I decided to see if I could get a look at the pigeons. It turns out I didn’t need special clearance from MI6 to spy on them through Em’s window. Far from flying off in a furious flap of wings as I neared the glass, they were thoroughly unperturbed by my approach.
There were three pigeons, all about the same size. A close look revealed two were fledglings and the third was an adult. The youngsters skittered up and down our grey roof tiles, pursuing their parent for food. Once they made contact, they pushed their beaks into their parent’s bill, as if to say, “Come on! We know you’ve got our crop milk in there.” But the adult was having none of it; its parental contract for food delivery had already ended.
Until I started reading about the birds on our roof, I had taken the common pigeon, Columba livia, for granted. I thought of them as birds that had always been here, part of the everyday fabric of city life.
While it’s true rock pigeons have been associated with humans for many thousands of years, they haven’t always been in North America. They didn’t reach this continent until the early 1600s. Prior to this, rock pigeons were natural residents of Eurasia and North Africa, where their wild nests could be found in narrow crevices plentiful in sea cliffs, caves and canyons.
The latter fact explains why these birds have fared so well in both the New and Old Worlds. Wherever humans have created towns and cities, places with man-made structures that emulate cliffs, rock pigeons have found a home.
Beyond being evolutionarily successful, rock pigeons are beautiful birds with a regal carriage. Sure, they poop a lot. And it can be hazardous to park or walk under a flock of these birds on a wire. Step carefully, I say, and admire their shimmering, iridescent plumage.
And what of the birds on our roof? When I looked out Em’s window this morning, only the adult pigeon was there; the fledglings, rebuffed, had finally departed. A single small white feather remained on the tiles, a reminder of the pigeon family that was.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Homing pigeons are a remarkable species with internal compasses that are able to memorize landmarks to retrace a path home. But one particular bird ended up so far off its course, it would have been a miracle for her to find her way back.
After being found frozen to a front porch, she was taken in by Calgarian Alex Gray who didn’t know what else to do and posted on social media, eventually tracking down Jeanie Palmer, a woman who raises and rescues pigeons.
“There were a lot of people who wanted the bird but couldn’t prove it was theirs, so I reached out to Jeanie and I said: ‘Alright, we don’t have traction and she doesn’t seem happy by herself, so by all means, come and get her,’” Gray said.
Once Palmer got her home she did some digging and, being a member of the Canadian Pigeon Fancier’s Association, she reached out to her fellow fanciers who helped her identify the tag.
She’s from the Netherlands and belonged to Henk Bax, a man who races pigeons.
“He said, this bird went missing from a race in Vervins, France on April 25, 2021. She was 200 kilometres from the coop and a year-and-a-half later she winds up on the sidewalk in Calgary, Alberta,” Palmer said.
The Dutch owner gave his blessing to keep the pigeon.
“How would you fly from France all the way here? How would she make that? I don’t think she could have made it that far, kudos to her if she did,” Palmer said.
“There’s a reason we named her Amelia Earhart, maybe she did fly here,” Palmer said.
“My jaw dropped,” Gray said.
Both could hardly believe it.
“This could be a book. The bird who flew across the world, or the pigeon who got lost. You could make up any adventures you wanted her to be on. The fact I have her is crazy to me, pretty lucky,” Palmer said.
She’s retiring from racing and will officially become a Canadian. It isn’t legal to ship a bird from Canada to the Netherlands.
“She’s going to join my coop and be a spoiled lazy pigeon. Hopefully she will pick one of my handsome boys and have a happy little family of her own,” Palmer said.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Pigeons in the United Kingdom have become a target of a terrible disease called the Pigeon Paramyxovirus (PPMV) or Newcastle’s Disease. It results in neurological symptoms, including trembling wings and a violently twisted neck. The affected pigeons become reluctant to move and can’t fly. They also have green feces. The disease is fatal.
A JSPCA Animal Shelter spokesperson reported that the shelter had increased the number of grounded pigeons in the last few weeks. Many affected birds had neurological symptoms, such as a twisted neck, circling, or inability to stand. The spokesperson added that these symptoms are signs of pigeon paramyxovirus that affects poultry, doves and pigeons and is invariably fatal.
PPMV is a notifiable disease in captive birds. It does not apply to wild birds. The affected birds die within a few days, and there is no treatment for the disease. PPMV is highly infectious and can spread through feces and other excretions of the affected birds. Surviving birds will shed the virus, becoming a risk to other birds. So, at JSPCA, the infected birds are humanely euthanised. Since the PPMV virus survives better in cold and wet months, the disease’s clusters are usually found at this ..
Is PPMV highly infectious? PPMV is highly infectious, spreading through the affected bird’s feces and other secretions.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Police in Edmonton are looking for help to solve an unusual crime involving dozens of pigeons.
Video captured on Tuesday night shows a man carrying a large bin and snooping around a pigeon enclosure in the backyard of a home on Checknita Way SW around 9:25 p.m.
Someone noticed the man, wearing a white tank top and shoulder holster, and called in a “suspicious person” complaint.
Feral Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) perched with a blue sky background
Before officers arrived, the man made off with 45 of the homeowners’ 60 competition pigeons, Edmonton Police Service said.
The birds are worth about $300 each, making it a loss of $13,500.
“What’s interesting about the video is that the suspect is wearing fairly distinctive clothing and it looks like some sort of fashion item or wallet that he’s wearing and that may help people recognize who he is,” said Cheryl Voordenhout with EPS.
City of Edmonton bylaws permit homeowners to have up to 75 pigeons.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
John Mittermeier could barely believe his eyes when he saw the footage of a little black and orange bird strutting its tail feathers in front of the camera.
He and his team have captured video of a black-naped pheasant-pigeon on an island in Papua New Guinea. It was the first time the bird had been documented since 1882.
“This is just a story of excitement and hope,” Mittermeier told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “I mean, how incredible is it that this species was missing to scientists for 140 years and we were able to find it?”
Mittermeier was the co-leader of a 30-day expedition to search the island of Fergusson for signs of the elusive creature. They had just about lost all hope when one pranced right past one of their motion sensor cameras on Day 28.
“We had been working incredibly, incredibly hard to try to find this bird. We had tons of doubts going through our mind at that point, thinking that we might not be able to find it, wondering if it even existed,” Mittermeier said.
“It’s kind of like all our dreams coming true and just this incredible, incredible relief.”
The expedition was a joint venture by the American Bird Conservancy, the Papua New Guinea National Museum and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Mittermeier is the director of the lost birds program at the American Bird Conservancy. In partnership with Re:wild and BirdLife International, his organization is trying to find and document the more than 140 “lost” birds around the world.
And by lost, he means birds that have no confirmed documentation — in the form of photographs, audio recordings or genetic samples — for 10 or more years.
By that definition, you can’t get much more lost than the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, or Otidiphaps insularis, which was first described by scientists in 1882, then never again.
“The pheasant pigeon really stood out because it’s one of the birds that’s been lost for the longest period of time,” Mittermeier said. “Or I should say it was one of the birds that had been lost for the longest periods of time.”
Local knowledge was key
All the scientists really knew about the bird was that it was first spotted on Fergusson, an island in the D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago off eastern Papua New Guinea. Even that wasn’t much to go on, given that the island spans 1,500 square kilometres.
So the team relied on local knowledge, and began by interviewing residents.
At first, most of the people they spoke to said they’d never heard of the bird — until they reached the villages on the western Mt. Kilkerran. The hunters were familiar with the bird, which is known locally as an auwo.
It was a local hunter named Augustin Gregory in the village of Duda Ununa who give them their big break. He told the scientists he’d seen the auwo on multiple occasions. He described how it looked, moved and sounded in great detail.
He took the scientists to the places where he’d spotted the creature. They didn’t see any up close in person but they planted cameras in those locations. It was at one of those sites that the bird finally appeared.
“The game-changer in terms of finding it was really some leads we got from some local people there — particularly this one man,” Mittermeier said. “A huge component of this story is the incredible local knowledge.”
Serena Ketaloya, a conservationist from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, says the discovery is a welcome one.
“The communities were very excited when they saw the survey results, because many people hadn’t seen or heard of the bird until we began our project and got the camera trap photos,”
“They are now looking forward to working with us to try to protect the pheasant-pigeon.”
What do we know about the auwo?
At this point, scientists don’t know much about the auwo. They have two sets of photographs and video of at least two birds.
They suspect — for obvious reasons — that it’s very rare and geographically limited.
“My first hope is really that we’re going to have an opportunity to learn more about this bird, get a better sense of where exactly it occurs on the island, what its population size might be, and what potential threats it could be facing,” Mittermeier said.
“And then the next hope is really that we’re going to be able to turn that information into a great collaboration with some of the local communities there and find a way to protect this bird, perhaps develop some eco-tourism so that people can go and see it personally. I know I’d love to actually see it.”
It’s just one thing about the future that has him excited.
“I’m really optimistic that some of the other birds around the world might be able to be found as well. And I’m hoping we can do that and get some more good news in the near future.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
An infection linked to pigeon droppings was a “contributing factor” in the death of a child at a Glasgow hospital, it has been confirmed.
The child was being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital when he or she appears to have caught the infection – a fungus called cryptococcus.
The child has not been named. The fungus did not contribute to the death in December of a second patient infected with the same pathogen, say experts.
What is it?
Cryptococcus is a yeast-like fungus that lives in the environment.
It can be found in soil contaminated by pigeon droppings.
How can you catch it?
People can become infected if they breathe it in.
The child who died in December at the hospital in Glasgow had been exposed to the fungus.
Experts say the probable source has been traced to a room on the rooftop of the hospital. Pigeon droppings appeared in the room via a small break in the wall which was “invisible to the naked eye”, Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman confirmed.
The hospital says it has put infection control measures in place and no further cases have been reported.
How risky is it?
Most won’t get sick, but vulnerable people with already weakened immunity can get very ill with a chest infection or meningitis.
Expert Prof Hugh Pennington says it is very unusual to see cases in the UK.
“It is common in other parts of the world, particularly tropical parts, in the US and countries like that where they have more problems with this particular kind of fungus. But in the UK, very uncommon.
“There are cases in people who have problems with their immune systems. They’re the people who are at risk with this kind of bug.”
Cryptococcus infection cannot spread from person to person.
How dangerous is pigeon poo?
Breathing dust or water droplets containing contaminated bird droppings can lead to several diseases, including a flu-like illness called psittacosis.
Salmonella – a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhoea – may also be present in some bird droppings.
If you are cleaning up or come into contact with droppings, you should take precautions. Wash your hands and clean any exposed skin before eating, drinking or putting your hands near your mouth.
Likewise, if you are feeding or handling birds, wash your hands afterwards.
If you have a compromised immune system, including from HIV/AIDS or cancer, you should not clean up droppings.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Pigeons in general do carry a lot of disease but most are not transferrable to humans. The one way humans can contract diseases from pigeons is by exposure to their droppings. You do not need to be in direct contact with pigeon droppings to contract the diseases it carries; these diseases can become airborne and enter your system unknowingly. With enough exposure you may begin to experience flu like symptoms or lung disease.
For those who have had minimal exposure and are in good health, it is unlikely to experience any symptoms at all from these diseases. The majority of people who have contracted diseases from pigeon droppings have recovered with no medical intervention, and if needed there are medications that can combat these diseases. If you have concerns that you have contracted one of these diseases and are experiencing severe symptoms you should go to your nearest emergency room. If your symptoms seem quite mild, you will likely recover on your own.
Can pigeon diseases kill you?
Yes pigeon diseases can kill you, while it is unlikely. Pigeon dropping related diseases can cause problems like pneumonia and even meningitis in the most extreme cases. That being said, the best way to avoid contracting pigeon-related diseases is to stay away from their droppings.
In big cities like Toronto, there are pigeons everywhere, and their droppings are also everywhere. But keep in mind that these small amounts are unlikely to make you ill if you are just walking by. On the other hand, if you see areas with large amounts of pigeon droppings in public, you should avoid these areas altogether. If you are a property owner and have large amounts of pigeon droppings on your property, you may require professional intervention including pigeon trapping and pigeon poop clean up which hawkeye can provide.
Why are pigeons harmful?
Pigeons themselves are not harmful in the sense that it is unlikely to get attacked by a pigeon, but their poop can be harmful both to your health and property. Pigeon poop contains diseases that can become airborne and infect humans unknowingly. Although the symptoms from these diseases are mostly quite mild, they can become severe and require medical intervention.
Pigeons are also harmful to your property. Pigeon droppings contain uric acid which can deteriorate roofing materials and other surfaces over time as they are highly corrosive. Many commercial and residential properties in Toronto suffer from property damage from pigeon droppings.
There are many solutions available when it comes to dealing with pigeons. Hawkeye offers cleaning, exclusion, and trapping of pigeons. Solutions are unique to each property and depend on many factors including accessibility, the number of pigeons, and their activities (perching or nesting).
Is pigeon poop harmful to humans?
Yes pigeon poop can be harmful to humans. Pigeon poop can cause diseases in humans through the inhalation of airborne particles. Many people who contract these diseases do not experience symptoms, but those that do are usually immunocompromised individuals. It is best to avoid contact with pigeon poop and if you have a large amount of pigeon poop on your property / balcony you should avoid the surrounding area until it can be properly cleaned.
Cleaning pigeon poop is not a fun activity, and many people want to leave the work to the professionals. If you are to clean up pigeon poop on your own there are certain precautions you should take to protect your health. Wearing gloves, a face mask, and safety glasses are the bare minimum in terms of protection from harmful diseases; depending on the extent of the mess you may require a ventilated mask.
Can you get sick from pigeon poop?
The short answer is yes, but here are the facts. The four main diseases to be worried about in terms of pigeons are Salmonellosis, Psittacosis, Histoplasmosis, and Cryptococcosis. All of these diseases are contracted through the inhalation of dried pigeon droppings. Although most cases are mild, it is possible to experience serious illness and it is always advised to take extreme caution and use the proper protective equipment when working with or cleaning up pigeon droppings.
Some are at a higher risk than others for contracting these diseases including individuals who have long term exposure, fail to wear protective equipment while cleaning, and those who have a compromised immune system. Although these people are at a higher risk to contract these diseases, many people who are not immunocompromised do not experience any symptoms at all.
What diseases are caused by pigeon droppings?
There are many different diseases to be worried about in terms of pigeons including Salmonellosis, Psittacosis, Histoplasmosis, and Cryptococcosis. These diseases can pose serious health risks and in rare cases can be fatal although many cases can be solved without medical intervention.
Salmonellosis is caused by Salmonella bacteria. This disease, as with all others listed above, is contracted by the inhalation of airborne particles. This bacteria is usually the cause of food poisoning and causes the same symptoms when contracted through pigeon droppings. Usually the onset of these symptoms is within 24-48 hours and surpasses entirely within 7 days with no medical intervention.
Psittacosis also known as parrot fever is caused by a bacteria, Chlamydia psittaci. Those exposed to this disease will experience symptoms (if any) within a couple weeks that resemble that of the flu. A simple blood test is able to identify the presence of this bacteria so if you are concerned, there is an easy way to see if you have contracted this disease.
Histoplasmosis is caused by a fungus named Histoplasma. This fungus lives in pigeon droppings and soil and when inhaled can pose health risks. Most cases show no signs or symptoms when infected, but those with existing conditions like emphysema can develop a chronic disease which exhibits symptoms similar to tuberculosis.
Cryptococcosis is also caused by a fungus, except this particular fungus is called Cryptococcosis neoformans. This is the most dangerous of all the diseases listed as this infection has the capacity to move from your lungs to your brain, and throughout your entire body. It is not isolated to your respiratory or digestive systems. In the majority of cases, this disease only causes infection in the lungs leaving patients with little to no symptoms, but when left untreated can lead to meningitis. The onset of this disease will happen within two weeks of exposure.
What are the signs and symptoms of Histoplasmosis?
Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease that has a wide range of symptoms ranging from no symptoms at all to chronic histoplasmosis (similar to tuberculosis) or even death in extreme cases. Signs to look out for include dry cough, chest pain, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, and joint pain.
Most cases of Histoplasmosis leave those infected experiencing little to no symptoms. Although unfortunately, those with existing lung conditions are at higher risk for developing chronic histoplasmosis. This chronic condition causes bloody cough and symptoms of tuberculosis including chest pain, weakness, chills, fever, weight loss, and fatigue.
Although unlikely, it is possible for this disease to remain dormant in your body for years producing no symptoms until far down the road from the point of exposure so always ensure you protect yourself with the proper protective equipment when dealing around pigeon droppings.
What are the signs and symptoms of Psittacosis?
Psittacosis is a bacterial disease that has a range of symptoms that are mostly mild but can become severe if prolonged symptoms are left untreated. Mild symptoms include muscle pains, cough, chills, headache, and fever. More severe symptoms include chest pain, pneumonia, and difficulty breathing.
Although this disease is very rare in humans, it can become quite serious once infected so be sure to use the proper precautions when you are cleaning or in the presence of pigeon poop. Proper protective equipment including gloves, mask, and googles should be warn whenever in contact or in the vicinity of large amounts of pigeon droppings.
How do you clean pigeon droppings?
When cleaning pigeon droppings the most important thing is protection from potential diseases. Wearing a mask, gloves, and googles / safety glasses is recommended at all times. This personal protective equipment with protect you from breathing in airborne particles and will keep your hands clean to avoid spreading germs to other locations.
To start, the bulk of the pigeon droppings should be swept or shovelled into double bags and disposed of. If possible, steam cleaning is the most effective solution to clean and sanitize areas affected by pigeon poop. In some cases pressure washing may be used instead. If there is no access to a water attachment or you are on a balcony with no drainage, this solution is not feasible and hand tools must be used instead. Hand tools include brushes and scrapers and will require the use of a diluted bleach or disinfectant to properly clean and sanitize the area. Using hand tools on porous materials can be difficult and may require using boiling water to properly disinfect the area.
How do I get rid of pigeon poop on my balcony?
Balconies are the perfect place for pigeons to perch, nest, and poop. The mess that these birds make can render your balcony unusable. Luckily there are solutions available to solve these problems. Hawkeye offers balcony netting and clean up to keep the pigeons off your balcony for good.
Balcony netting is designed to keep pigeons from perching on your balcony and accessing your balcony all together. This netting is made of a black 2 inch heavy duty, polyethylene, 4 strand, knotted twine. This netting comes with a 10 year warranty on materials and workmanship and is the perfect way to keep pigeons off your balcony permanently.
In terms of clean up, different tools can be used depending on accessibility and practicality. Most balconies do not provide access to use a pressure washer or steam cleaner, which leaves only hand tools to perform clean up. Cleaning up the bulk of poop and nesting material is done using brooms and shovels. Deep cleaning is done using brushes and scrapers. Most surfaces will allow us to use a diluted bleach solution which will help to sanitize and clean the surfaces contaminated with droppings. When only hand tools are used, if available, we may require the customer to provide us with some boiling water to assist in stubborn clean ups.
How much does it cost to remove a pigeon?
Pigeon trapping includes the live trapping of pigeons and humane euthanizing of caught pigeons as to permanently remove the nuisance birds from your property. Depending on the amount of pigeons frequently seen on your property a decision will be made between the customer and the technician as to how many traps should be installed on site.
Pigeon poop cleaning is quoted based on two different things; types of tools used (power vs hand tools) and how long it will take for us to clean.
Balcony netting is the main form of exclusion used for residential customers in condo or apartment buildings dealing with pigeon problems.
We also offer other exclusion services including bird spikes, flex track, bird slide, bird wire, and netting for areas other than balconies. All of these exclusion methods can be used to prevent pigeons from perching or nesting in problem areas around your property. These products range greatly in price and the prices are determined based on the size of project, equipment required, man power required, and materials required.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
In January 2019, a child died in a Scottish hospital after developing a fungal infection caused by exposure to pigeon droppings. An elderly patient also died in the same hospital of another condition that was exacerbated by exposure to pigeon droppings. It was determined that both patients were exposed to the contaminants via the ventilation system, which was found to contain pigeon droppings. These deaths brought to the forefront a question that many people who are living with pigeon infestations have: in addition to being disruptive, are pigeons actually dangerous? Here are the facts you need to know.
Pigeon droppings contain bacteria and fungi that can cause disease.
Exposure to pigeon droppings can lead to a number of different diseases. Some of the most common infections associated with pigeons are:
· E. coli: E. coli infections are usually the result of pigeon droppings being present in water or in food that is later consumed. This infection causes nausea, abdominal cramps, fever, and vomiting.
· Histoplasmosis: This is a dangerous fungal infection that affects the lungs, or rarely, other parts of the body. It causes flu-like symptoms, including fever, shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, and loss of appetite. It can be fatal in severe cases.
· Cryptococcus: This is another fungal infection that affects the lungs and can spread to the brain. In its early stages, it can cause a cough, chest pain, fever, and shortness of breath. When it spreads to the lungs, it causes headaches, neck pain, changes in behavior, confusion, and sensitivity to light. It can also be fatal.
· Psittacosis: Psittacosis is a bacterial infection that causes fever, headaches, a rash, and can lead to pneumonia, if left untreated.
· Candidiasis: This fungal infection can affect multiple parts of the body, including the mouth, lungs, urogenital tract, and skin. This infection may require prolonged periods of antifungal medications to treat.
· Salmonellosis: Pigeon droppings may contain the bacteria salmonella, which can cause this infection. Typically, people are exposed to these bacteria when pigeon droppings come into contact with food or food preparation surfaces. This infection causes nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
Pigeons also carry other potential health risks.
It is not just the droppings of pigeons that are dangerous. Pigeons themselves can carry mites and fleas, which can then attach to your pets or enter your home, causing skin irritation and itchiness. They can also spread infections through bites that are dangerous to both people and pets.
Pigeons can also carry West Nile virus. Although people are unlikely to contract West Nile virus directly from pigeons, it is still important to avoid removing any dead pigeons from your property without the help of a professional for this reason.
People with weakened immune systems are most at risk.
The infections that pigeons are likely to transmit do not affect everyone at the same rate. Many healthy adults are able to fight off infections caused by exposure to bacteria and fungi from pigeon droppings. If they do become ill, then they are likely to have very mild infections.
However, although it is always possible for someone who is healthy to become very ill from these conditions, other people are more at risk. Infants and children are more likely to experience severe symptoms when they are exposed to a disease via pigeon droppings. People who are immuno-compromised, such as people with HIV or who are undergoing chemotherapy, also have a higher risk of developing severe symptoms and complications. Lastly, the elderly are prone to severe symptoms from pigeon-related diseases.
Even without exposure to a disease, some people may have allergy symptoms, including respiratory problems, rashes, and itchiness, as a result of a pigeon infestation near their home or business.
For safety reasons, only professionals should handle pigeon control.
If you have a pigeon infestation, it’s important to deal with the issue as soon as possible. However, trying to get rid of pigeons and clean up their droppings on your own is not safe. Pigeon control professionals are trained in safe management techniques and have the proper equipment required to clean up after a pigeon infestation safely.
One of the biggest risks of cleaning up pigeon droppings on your own is that you could release dust into the air that contains bacteria and fungi that cause infection. Not only would you be at risk from inhaling the bacteria and fungi yourself, but you could also inadvertently introduce the contaminants into the HVAC system in your home, allowing them to spread into your indoor air and putting your family at risk.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Pigeons are found in most large metropolitan areas, and Quebec cities are no exception. These invasive birds have adapted to humans and are largely unbothered by our presence.
Unfortunately, they are not exactly man’s best friend. Pigeons carry a number of diseases that are dangerous for humans. It’s important to know what diseases they carry and can spread to humans so that we can better protect ourselves.
The professional exterminators of E.Exterminator explain which diseases pigeons can transmit to humans.
Pigeon diseases
These flying rats have the annoying habit of hanging around just about anywhere, making them notorious disease-spreaders. While some diseases, like coryza or trichomonosis, are not transmissible to humans, there are 5 main diseases that we can catch from pigeons.
That’s why proper pigeon pest control is so important to stop the spread of these diseases.
Paratyphoid
Paratyphoid is caused by Salmonella bacteria, an infection that’s found in many species. The illness can affect your joints, intestines, or genitals.
The bacteria are transmitted via direct contact with an infected pigeon, contact with pigeon droppings or through contaminated food and water.
SYMPTOMS
Nausea
Vomiting
Headache
In humans, the paratyphoid symptoms are similar to stomach virus symptoms. You should see a doctor if you think you may be infected.
Histoplasmosis
Histoplasmosis is a dangerous respiratory infection that’s spread by bats as well as pigeons. It is caused by the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus and by inhaling pigeon droppings. More precisely, the fungal spores are to blame.
These spores are dangerous because they travel through the air and are easily inhaled.
SYMPTOMS
Fever
Fatigue
Chest pain
Despite these scary symptoms, don’t panic. Most cases of histoplasmosis are asymptomatic. If you do have symptoms, see a doctor ASAP.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
In 2019, not long before the unusual weather event that changed day into night in São Paulo City (Brazil), dozens of pigeons mysteriously dropped dead. Birds displaying wounds as well as neurological symptoms were found dead or dying near the municipal animal disease control center.
A multicenter research team discovered that the deaths were unrelated to the pollution blown into the city from forest fires in the Amazon, despite the proximity of the dates, but were in fact due to Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a serotype 1 avian paramyxovirus. The cases in question were caused by subgenotype VI.2.1.2, which is almost always deadly for pigeons. Also known as pigeon paramyxovirus (PPMV), this pathogen only rarely infects humans when transmitted by close contact with infected birds.
“We discovered that this virus has been circulating silently in Brazil since 2014. Our analysis of molecular data showed that it’s the same PPMV that had been identified five years before in Porto Alegre [the capital of Rio Grande do Sul state]. São Paulo and Porto Alegre are 1,100 km apart, which only goes to show how much the disease can spread without being noticed,” said Luciano Matsumiya Thomazelli, first author of an article on the team’s findings published in the journal Viruses. Thomazelli is affiliated with the University of São Paulo’s Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICB-USP), where he works at the Clinical and Molecular Virology Laboratory.
Since 2005, a team from the laboratory has conducted epidemiological surveillance in various parts of Brazil, under the aegis of the Virus Genetic Diversity Network (VGDN), which is funded by FAPESP and coordinated by Professor Edison Luiz Durigon, last author of the article.
The group also works with the Network for Surveillance of Viruses in Wild Animals (PREVIR), funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), an arm of the Brazilian government’s Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI).
Deadly to pigeons
NDV normally causes disease in hens and chickens but not in pigeons. According to the researchers, however, the opposite occurs with subgenotype VI.2.1.2.
“It’s endemic in pigeon populations worldwide, causing neurological symptoms and high mortality rates. Cases are frequently reported in Asia, Europe and North America. Although this is the second reported outbreak in Brazil, there are no grounds for alarm because this subgenotype isn’t a significant threat to humans or poultry farmers,” said Helena Ferreira, a professor at the School of Animal Sciences and Food Engineering in Pirassununga (FZEA-USP), a member of PREVIR-MCTI, and principal investigator for the study.
The researchers stressed the importance of active surveillance and monitoring to control outbreaks and epidemics, and to provide early warning of the emergence of new diseases.
“Active surveillance throughout Brazil is vital to control pigeon populations near poultry farms and in urban areas,” Thomazelli said. “Monitoring of NDV is also important from the economic standpoint, as Brazil is the world’s leading exporter of frozen chicken.”
Before the researchers could identify the disease that was killing feral pigeons (Columba livia) in São Paulo, the animal disease control center and official veterinary service collected and organized several specimens of dead birds.
“Initially the cause of death was thought to be a bacterium, but no pathogenic species were identified,” Ferreira said. “They sent samples to ICB-USP and the Federal Agricultural Defense Laboratory [LFDA-SP], where characterization was performed, in line with the standard procedure for notifiable viral diseases affecting poultry. Our lab in Pirassununga then sequenced the viral genome.”
Her team also performed analyses to identify tissue wounds. “We sequenced the whole genome and identified the virus as VI.2.1.2,” she said. “This enables us to conduct an in-depth investigation, compare the outbreak with others elsewhere in the world, track the pathogen’s evolution in Brazil, and predict its behavior from now on, including whether it may adapt to other feral birds, for example.”
The genomic analysis showed that the virus found in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul (in 2014) can be grouped with samples from Africa.
“Other cases need to be identified so that we can propose classification of the genotype that has circulated in Brazil. It’s relatively different from the African one,” she said. “This kind of monitoring is most important. In the specific case in question, the genotype can’t infect domestic birds [hens] efficiently. If a hen is infected, it doesn’t transmit the virus to others in the same flock. However, studies have suggested that this genotype can adapt in hens over time and cause disease in other domestic birds. Even so, it isn’t considered very dangerous for commercial poultry.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
Why do species die out? This is the overarching question being asked by many leading researchers. Knowing more about what leads to a species’ becoming extinct could enable us to do something about it. The passenger pigeon is a famous example and the species has been studied extensively.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) was once found in huge numbers in North America. Records tell of passing flocks that darkened the skies for several days at a time. The species may have peaked at five billion individuals. A more conservative estimate is three billion.
Within a short time, the species disappeared completely.
“Given the huge size of the population, it’s simply amazing that the species disappeared so quickly,” says Tom Gilbert.
Gilbert is a professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for GeoGenetics, but he also has a part-time position as an adjunct professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The human role
The history of the passenger pigeon is interesting, partly because it can tell us something about how and why species become extinct.
Native Americans also relied on passenger pigeons for food. But at least in parts of the passenger pigeons’ range, people had learned to harvest the species at a sustainable level that didn’t threaten to eradicate it.
It was common in some parts of North America to only eat young pigeons that were hunted at night, since this did not seem to scare away the adult birds or prevent them from re-nesting.
But starting around 1500, a more aggressive variant of humans came to the continent with the arrival of Europeans. The hunt for passenger pigeons grew and culminated in a massive hunt for the species throughout the 1800s, before the species finally collapsed and disappeared.
So were the Europeans then really the ones to blame for the collapse?
Already headed to oblivion?
In 2014, a study in published in the scientific journal PNAS strongly suggested that humans were simply the final straw in destroying a species that was already vulnerable and headed to oblivion.
The researchers asserted that despite their enormous numbers, the passenger pigeons were already in trouble. The population of the species varied greatly, similar to lemmings, but over a longer period of time.
When the Europeans arrived, the species was already in a strong decline. The population was plummeting long before Europeans arrived, and perhaps Europeans even contributed to a short-term increase in numbers.
Studies of the genetic variation of the species using an investigative method called PSMC formed the background for these assertions. And now we have to concentrate a bit.
From one to many
All of an individual’s genes are called a genome. You have a genome, your mom has her own genome, your dog has one and the neighbour’s cat has yet another. These can be broken down into chromosomes and genes and base pairs, but you only have a single genome.
So, all of your chromosomes and genes are found in this one genome, but at the same time this genome is unique to just you and only you. Unless, that is, you have an identical twin or are a termite or belong to another species where the individuals are largely identical clones. (In the last case, it’s remarkable that you can read this.)
Here is the crux of the matter:
The PSMC method can use the information in the genes of a single individual of a species to map the history of the species.
You should therefore be able to see how the species developed over many generations, and estimate how many individuals there were at any given time, all based on a single genome.
Humans partially off the hook
Using this method, researchers found that the number of passenger pigeons was in free fall even before the arrival of the Europeans.
Although the species might not have become extinct, it would have shrunk significantly in any case, maybe to only a few hundred thousand individuals.
People were just the final factor in their demise. We may have pushed the passenger pigeons off the cliff, but the species was already on its way there.
So — according to the researchers behind the study in PNAS — it wasn’t just the Europeans’ fault.
It sounds almost too good to be true that you can come up with something so definitive based on information from just one or a few individuals. And in this case it is — at least if we’re to believe a new study that has recently been published in the journal Science.
Ineffective for passenger pigeons
The problem is that the PSMC method can’t be used on passenger pigeons. The new research in Science provides completely different results.
Leading molecular biologist Beth Shapiro is the main author of the Science article, and Tom Gilbert is one of the study’s contributors.
PSMC is based on the assumption that genetic variations occur relatively evenly all along the chromosomes that constitute the genome. That is, genetic changes are equally likely to occur at the ends of a chromosome as in the middle. But this turns out not to be the case for this species.
“Passenger pigeons don’t have the variation patterns that we’d expect, because of the strong selection on genes that appear to have been important throughout the species’ history. So it doesn’t work to use PSMC in this case,” said Gilbert.
In passenger pigeons, most of the genetic diversity was found at the ends of the chromosome. The middle of the chromosome showed little variation from one generation to the next as a result of the selection on these genes.
This fact may not sound revolutionary, but it yields completely different results if you try to read the history of the species based on the genome of a single individual.
You have to take into account that variations are greatest in certain parts of the chromosome rather than evenly distributed throughout. This makes the PSMC method unusable in this context.
Used another method
The researchers behind the article in Science didn’t use the PSMC method. Instead, they used mitochondrial DNA from 41 passenger pigeons as their starting point. Now we have to concentrate again.
Your DNA is not your only inheritance. Mitochondrial DNA is a distinct, separate inheritance found in certain cells called mitochondria.
Regular DNA is a combination of the inheritance from your father and mother. But mitochondrial DNA is only transmitted from your mother. Variations in mitochondrial DNA also occur due to mutations, and happen relatively consistently over time.
This is a different point of departure for understanding how a species develops over time, and the results can be quite different from those generated using the PSMC method.
In addition, the study presented in Science analysed the entire genomes from four passenger pigeons and compared them with two genomes from band-tailed pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata), one of the closest relatives of the passenger pigeon.
The final result was that the new study ended up with completely different answers about the passenger pigeons and why the species met its demise.
Genetic diversity
The new study is interesting for several reasons. It tells us about the genetic diversity of the passenger pigeon, but also supports an entirely different explanation for the species’ extinction.
Scientists previously believed that the larger the population of a species is, the more genetically diverse it will be. But this theory has turned out to be wrong, as the recent passenger pigeon research has shown.
According to the article in Science, the large population size appears to have enabled passenger pigeons to adapt and evolve more quickly and thus remove harmful mutations.
In species with fewer individuals, chance can cause a less beneficial mutation to persist, but chance plays less of a role in species with greater numbers of individuals.
“Mutations that provide a major evolutionary benefit would spread rapidly,” says Gilbert.
The fact that beneficial mutations became incredibly dominant so quickly simply led to the disappearance of other genetic variants.
This in turn led to the genetic diversity in the passenger pigeon being surprisingly low in relation to the number of individuals. This may have made the species more vulnerable to changes.
But that was not why the passenger pigeon died out.
Our mistake
“The passenger pigeon died out because of people,” is Gilbert’s short version.
The passenger pigeon wasn’t in trouble prior to Europeans arrival in North America. Nothing suggests that the species was struggling in any way.
Perhaps this isn’t that surprising. In the 19th century passenger pigeons were so numerous that there were contests to shoot as many of them as possible during a certain period of time. In one competition, the winner had shot 30 000 birds.
If nothing else, the story of the passenger pigeon has contributed to a greater understanding that even prolific species can become extinct.
Something to learn
The large grasshopper Melanoplus spretus from the western United States suffered the same fate. It went from a population of several trillion to zero in a few decades, possibly because farmers destroyed its breeding grounds. In Norway and across the whole of the North Atlantic, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) died out after people harvested them in large numbers.
People ate passenger pigeons in huge amounts, but they were also killed because they were perceived as a threat to agriculture. As Europeans migrated across North America, they thinned out and eliminated the large forests that the pigeons depended on. The pigeons lived primarily on acorns.
As the species was already dying out, 250,000 birds — the last big flock — were shot on a single day in 1896. That same year, the last passenger pigeon was observed in Louisiana. It was also shot.
The pigeons were probably dependent on a large flock size to reproduce. Their instincts didn’t work when only a few individuals remained here and there.
The last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
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The politicians are seated in a semi-circle at a meeting of the council. One by one, they raise their voices as part of the deliberation. “I believe it is time we took a position on this,” says a black-blazered woman. “It’s not an industry that I want to support,” a second woman, wearing dark-rimmed glasses, reads into the official record.
“It’s time,” concludes the mayor, donning the heavy chain that is the insignia of his office, “to end the practice in our community.”
It is a fall meeting of the District of North Vancouver’s city council and they are discussing whether people should be allowed to keep pigeons. Councillors Lisa Muri, in the blazer, and Megan Curren, with the glasses, ultimately vote with the mayor in favour of an outright pigeon ban.
Coun. Matthew Bond, one of those who votes against, says skeptically, “I don’t necessarily see this as a good use of our time.” But the bylaw passes, four to two.
Something smells, though. Only one property in the community is known to harbour pet pigeons. Only one complaint about pigeons, dating back several years, is known to be active. Only one city councillor has recused herself from the discussion. “I have been in a situation like this,” Coun. Betty Forbes says, at the same meeting. “So I’m stepping aside.”
One plus one plus one equals . . . a conflict of interest?
Documents obtained by the CBC under access-to-information seem to bolster that view of events. The “situation” was that Forbes lived next-door to pigeons. That she did not like pigeons. And that after complaining to the city as a private citizen to no avail, she took matters into her own hands; after being elected to council in 2018, in an email to two fellow councillors, she requested a bylaw banning residents from keeping the birds.
Emails viewed by Maclean’s suggest that during the spring, Muri initiated a process to change the district’s pigeon ownership rules, and kept Forbes up to date on its progress. But the whole project has since run into trouble because it turns out Kulwant Dulay, Forbes’ neighbour, cares deeply about his pigeons. He cares enough to go to court.
His petition to B.C. Supreme Court, dated Dec. 4, seeks to have the bylaw declared illegal and set aside. It relies heavily on the CBC’s reporting, referencing emails between Forbes and Muri earlier this year that appear to reveal a plot to hatch the bylaw.
Dulay is arguing that Forbes’s involvement was “biased and bad faith and acting in a conflict of interest,” says Camille Chisholm, a lawyer representing the pigeon enthusiast. The district has retained its own lawyers and was expected to respond in January.
The same week as Dulay’s petition was filed, the District of North Vancouver announced it was tasking former B.C. privacy commissioner David Loukidelis with investigating how the pigeon ban came to be. His review, the district announced, will assess the “awareness” of conflict-of-interest rules by councillors. The process is expected to take a couple of months.
Dulay, Chisholm adds, has kept homing pigeons as pets for years—including during his time in India before he immigrated to Canada. “My neighbours in the front and back, everybody loves my pigeons,” says Dulay, adding that other than Forbes’s, he hasn’t had a complaint in 17 years. “Everybody comes to my house and looks at them. It looks cool, them flying around.” Some have names. One is called “Big Boss.” His favourite pigeon is blue and white. He said it always comes to his hand.
Dulay keeps his 15 birds in a coop that’s about as tall as the backyard fence and roomy enough for him to enter and move around. During the warmer months, he lets them out to fly around the neighbourhood, including over other people’s yards. He said they always return.
Lately, he has wondered whether Forbes has a problem with him, not his pigeons. He said she “never talks” to him, and notes that he has never complained about her two barking dogs, though he believes he might have reason to.
His across-the-street neighbour, meanwhile, has spoken in his support. “I’ve had opportunity to go over and see the coop,” Krista Page told council on Nov. 18. ”It is clean. There’s no foul smell. I’ve never met neighbours that keep a tidier driveway and home and everything.” Page noted there have been no complaints from the Dulays’ other next-door neighbour, adding: “I just feel that this is very much a misuse of power.”
Forbes declined an interview request from Maclean’s but insisted in an email that there is “another set of correct facts” to the story. “However, because the mayor has requested an inquiry of all council and himself,” the email added, “I am unable to make any comments at this time.”
Her only public response came at the end of the same meeting Krista Page attended. “If I have erred in any way,” she said, “I assure council and the community that it was done inadvertently and in good faith with my understanding, as a new councillor, of the conflict-of-interest rules.”
Muri echoed Forbes in an email to Maclean’s, saying: “We are currently reviewing the process of this bylaw, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment.” But a response to the petition later filed in court by her lawyers denies the councillor was aware of any interest Forbes could’ve had in a pigeon ban beyond one “in common with electors of the municipality generally.”
The submission argues that neither councillor stood to gain financially from the bylaw and doubles down on the councillors’ position that the ban is legitimate and serves to protect residents from current and future pigeon keepers who might “adversely impact them or their property.”
To some, this is more than a dispute between neighbours. Givo Hassko, who is on the board of the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association, told council in November he believed this was a test case for corruption in Canadian politics writ large. “If there are no consequences to how council goes to change bylaws here locally or Canada-wide,” he said, “then anyone—anyone—would get a green light.”
Hassko set up a GoFundMe to help with Dulay’s legal fees. At the time of writing, it had raised $700. A single commenter named Wayne, who pitched in $55, offered this input: “It is important that pigeons are not homeless.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosing / Vancouver Pigeon Control / Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / PIgeon Deterrent / Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest / Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons / What to do about pigeons / sparrows, Damage by Sparrows, How to Keep Raccoons Away, Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests / De-fence / Pigeon Nesting / Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping / woodpecker control / Professional Bird Control Company / Keep The Birds Away / Birds/rats/seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/pidgeon control/flying rats/pigeon problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/bird guard
