by johnnymarin | Dec 19, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
The New Year splashes in, the gusting rain disappointing skiers, skaters and snowman makers. It rains and rains through the night and finally clears in the morning to a sparkling blue sky. The first birds of the year here at the house are the usual suspects: chickadees and titmice, cardinals and bluejays, downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers. Finches are few and far between. Now and then I’ll look out the window and see a trio of goldfinches at the feeder. Then, later in the day, a pair of purple finches drops by. A junco hops over from the edge of the woodland and waits patiently while seven mourning doves work the seed-ladened ground under the feeders.
While in the spring you may see a pair of mourning doves sitting close together canoodling on a wire or a branch, at this time of year, they, like many other species, flock together. Some days there are only three or four here; while other days may bring in 20 or so. They feed mostly from the ground, picking and pecking through the spilled detritus. But come the colder, snowy weather, they will invade the platforms and wing away any competitors. So much for the dove of peace.
The mourning dove, Zenaida macroura, is the most common dove throughout North America. The bird has a lovely subdued plumage in colors ranging from bluish gray to pinkish brown. This dove is a little larger than a robin with a relatively small head and long, rounded tail that flashes white along the outer edges. A dark spot decorates the cheek and a spill of more dark dots are apparent across the back.
But who or what is the bird mourning? Early birders thought his ooAAH, cooo, coo, coo-ing sounded quite sad as if he were totally grief-stricken. Others thought it was reminiscent of an owl’s hoot, but no one called him the owl dove. Mourning dove became the name of choice.
FLYING TREE RATS
In “A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York” (1904), Ralph Hoffmann lists the mourning dove as a common summer resident with a footnote about the Wild Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, stating that it is nearly extinct in this area. Soon the passenger pigeon, as this species is known throughout the ornithological world, once the most abundant bird in North America, did become extinct, the last living specimen dying in 1914.
Hoffmann has no entry for the other common pigeon/dove of this area — called rock dove, rock pigeon or feral pigeon — often seen under bridges, around barns and on top of silos. These were European birds, Columba livia, brought over by the immigrants. The birds escaped from domestic, rooftop dovecotes and took to the wild probably around the turn of the 19th century. Their success is history. Most cities throughout the world now are rife with these pigeons often derogatorily referred to as “flying tree rats.”
The words pigeon or dove refer to the same birds, though the connotations are completely different. We do not ever hear of “mourning pigeons” or “feral doves.” Pigeons/doves from ancient times were symbols — depending on the cultural tradition — of love, fertility, longevity, faithfulness, of the Holy Ghost, of Christ, of purity, and, of course, of peace. It is the dove of peace, not the pigeon of peace.
Writers often refer to the kindness of doves, but the ferocity of pigeons, of doves with meek eyes, but pigeons with cold beady ones, of soiled doves, not soiled pigeons, of stool pigeons, not stool doves. Pigeons are thought to be the smartest of birds, the most versatile and the most adaptable. Carrier or homing pigeons were trained by the Ancient Greeks to transmit messages and even during World War II pigeons were used to bring vital information to and from the front.
After the French Revolution, the people insisted that all dovecotes be destroyed. The elite bred and hunted pigeons and doves, but did nothing to stop the birds ruining farmers’ crops.
Yet, rifle-slinging gunners are more likely these days to hunt mourning doves, not rock pigeons. Only nine states ban mourning dove hunting, including all of New England, New York and New Jersey. Seasons throughout the country may range from September through November, or December or January. The normal bag limit per day is seven per person.
Do these people feast on what they kill? Likely as not, it is primarily for sport, for it takes a very-skilled gunner to bring down a dove on the wing. They are quick fliers, twist and turn in flight, and soon are out of range. Fortunately, live mourning doves are no longer launched from traps for target shooting contests! Most now use clay pigeons — not clay doves.
Are these birds so abundant in field, farm and forest, that they can withstand a constant thinning of the population? Fortunately they are not colonial nesters like their long lost cousins, the passenger pigeons where hundreds were netted at a time while roosting. But neither are they prolific breeders. Mourning doves build really flimsy nests, lay only two eggs at a time and usually raise two broods during the summer.
BRAINY BIRDS
Pigeons were once a favorite test subject of behavioral scientists. Donald Blough supposedly taught his pigeons to recognize all the letters of the alphabet. What was the next step? A pigeon spelling bee? Algebra? Other scientists have proven that not only do pigeons see many more colors than humans, but they also see in slow motion. Not sure where that science was heading.
And who first taught that pigeon in NYC to ride the subway? No need to teach these smart creatures. These birds are not seeking a short cut from Main Street, Flushing to Times Square, but are following crumbs dropped by hungry subway passengers as they rush to catch the #7-Train. As soon as the birds are finished eating, they quietly await the opening of the doors at the next stop — minding the gap, of course.
Mourning doves may not hitch rides or act like Hansel and Gretel, but they are a pleasure to watch and listen to around the house!
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Dec 18, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
Dozens of birds in New Zealand have been found dead or injured with Christmas decorations tied around them, prompting calls for anyone with information on who is behind the cruel attacks to come forward.
The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(SPCA) said a number of sparrows and pigeons have been reported with “decorative trinkets” tied to them in the capital, Wellington.
Some of the animals died of starvation as they were unable to fly and find food, the SPCA said. The charity noted that while there had been similar incidents in the past, there has been a spike in sightings in recent weeks.
“Those that do survive and arrive at our centre are always in a very bad state, and are so malnourished and distressed that we have had to humanely euthanise them,” the SPCA’s spokesperson Paige Janssen told the BBC.
Janssen said there had been several reported cases of “decorated” birds since 2015 but the number of sightings had increased over the Christmas and New Year period.
“We received around 30 calls alone just over this period. They were multiple sightings of a dozen birds that are still mobile and flying around the Kilbirnie area that we are unable to reach,” she said.
On Wednesday a property was searched in an attempt to find the so-called Wellington sparrow killer and the local SPCA said it was looking for the suspect behind this “case of cruelty”. Last week it put out an appeal for information.
The SPCA general manager for the central region, Ros Alsford, told the New Zealand Herald that decorated pigeons were removed from the property on Wednesday, and brought to its hospital where they were given a check and had the trinkets removed.
She said the birds were incredibly distressed when first brought in but were fine now. “They were in OK health, the vets gave them a good health check. And once we removed the trinkets we sent them back to the property … The reason we did that is they were sitting on nests of eggs so we had to return them back to their nests.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Dec 17, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
During his 40-year career with The Florida Times-Union, Foster Marshall was known as an innovative photographer who came up with the idea of using a homing pigeon to carry film of a presidential visit from a locked-down naval base. A few of the memorable events Mr. Marshall photographed were the Roosevelt Hotel fire, the visits of six presidents, the arrival of the Beatles and Hurricane Dora. Mr. Marshall died on New Year’s Day of complications from pneumonia. He was 83. He retired in 1994 as assistant managing editor for graphics. In 1970 Mr. Marshall was the only still photographer to shoot the sinking of a Navy vessel loaded with nerve gas. He was the pool photographer for all newspapers and wire services. “We flew figure eights over the ship, waiting for it to sink for eight hours,” he said in a 1985 Jacksonville Journal interview. They had pulled the plug, but it just wouldn’t sink. Finally it just slipped beneath the surface to the relief of everyone.” In his younger years Marshall had a reputation for being ready to do anything “He did some hair-raising things,” said Stephanie Marshall, his wife of 58 years. “I would say, ‘Don’t tell me before you go and do these things. Just tell me afterward.’ ” During Hurricane Dora in 1964, she said, he was taking photos on the Jacksonville Beach Pier when the wind started dismantling some of the boards. Mr. Marshall said in an interview that he remembered being awakened by a phone call from the fire department at 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve in 1956 and told that a plane had crashed. The 17 people aboard had been killed. He said it had a psychological effect on him seeing the holiday presents strewn around the wreckage. Another unforgettable disaster was the Roosevelt Hotel fire that took 22 lives in December 1963. Mr. Marshall took a haunting black-and-white image of three firefighters hauling a stunned, soot-covered woman out of the hotel. Times-Union photographers Bob Self and Will Dickey, who were hired by Mr. Marshall, related the pigeon incident. President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy had come to Mayport Naval Station in 1984 to attend a memorial service for the sailors killed aboard the USS Stark during an Iraqi missile attack in the Persian Gulf. The day before the visit, the newspaper was told that the Secret Service would restrict movement on the base until Air Force One had departed. Self, who was covering the service, wouldn’t be able to leave the base with his film in time for the afternoon deadline. So Marshall told his staff to find a homing pigeon. Robert Bernard, a Jacksonville pigeon racer, agreed to help. Photo editor Don Ray devised a mini-capsule that was attached to the pigeon’s leg. Self carried the pigeon in a ventilated box onto the base with his jacket casually draped over his arm. He got shots of the grim-faced Reagans holding hands as they climbed down from the plane. Self placed the film in the capsule and released the bird. The pigeon flew to Bernard’s home, where a newspaper lab technician was waiting to speed the film across the Mathews Bridge and into the newsroom to the cheers of staff. “Foster came up with the idea and it worked,” Dickey said, adding that the journalistic coup got a lot of press attention. Mr. Marshall was born in Jacksonville in 1935. While attending Andrew Jackson High School, he worked for United Press as a telephoto operator. After graduating from Jackson in 1954, he joined the Times-Union photo staff. Mr. Marshall was promoted to supervisor in 1966 and was named chief photographer in 1970. Mr. Marshall became illustration editor of the TimesUnion in 1979, assistant director of news illustrations for the Times-Union and Journal in 1980, director and then assistant managing editor for graphics in 1983. Don Burk, a retired Times-Union photographer who also was hired by Mr. Marshall, said he was an outdoors enthusiast who enjoyed fishing and hunting. Mr. Marshall once said the job gave him the opportunity to fish with Joe DiMaggio and Jack Dempsey and see the heavyweight champion of the world turn green from sea sickness. In addition to his wife, Mr. Marshall is survived by a son, Scott of Pensacola, two grandchildren and a sister, Marlene Mizell of Keystone Heights. There will be no funeral service. Burial will be private.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Dec 16, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
A leading British talk show Good Morning Britain piers Morgan live decided to plant himself on the shoulders of two pigeons. However, soon they made a real stir in the Studio.
The video with the funny incident was published on Wednesday on Youtube.
Reportedly, a couple of weeks before the fun event, the son of leading compared with the character in the movie home Alone-2 — with a homeless woman feeding birds in the Park.
Viewers of the show noticed that a Morgan is quite similar to the actress from the movie, and the joke. The journalist could not miss the occasion to laugh with himself and went on the air with two doves on his shoulders.
The rest of the bird was short-lived: first, one of the pigeons got the lead on the head and began to beat his wings in the face.
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Not all twins are able to live together until old age. But it is certainly not for British women, Phyllis Jones and Irene crump. Sister recently celebrated her 102 birthday. They are not going to stop. The twins are confident that together they can overcome anything.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Dec 15, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Birds staged in the Studio real chaos.A leading British talk show Good Morning Britain piers Morgan (Piers Morgan) decided to sneer at a, seated on the shoulders of two pigeons.
Soon the birds were out of control and wreaked havoc in the Studio, writes the Chronicle.info with reference to Depo.ua.
A few weeks before the incident, the son of Morgan compared the leading character of the movie “home Alone 2” – s a homeless woman in the Park feeding pigeons. Viewers of the show decided that apparently Morgan is very similar to that actress, and supported the joke. The journalist also wanted to laugh at themselves, so appeared on the air with two birds on his shoulders.
The pigeons did not sit still: first one got Morgan on the head and began to beat its wings in the face. He then flew around the Studio and pooped on the papers co-host Suzanne Reid (Susanna Reid).
Soon in the frame were the owner of pigeons who tried to catch the raging birds. He came to the aid of even the master of the weather. In the end the man managed to throw pigeons on the net.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
