by johnnymarin | Dec 9, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
My last column dealt with introduced species of birds such as the Mandarin duck and game birds such as pheasants and turkeys. On the Sunshine Coast we have four other species that qualify as introduced, that is, they arrived here with a helping hand from humans. In reality the distinction between species that arrive with a helping hand and those that arrive on their own initiative can be a little muddy.
House sparrows and starlings were both deliberately introduced to North America from Europe in the 19th century, while the most recent colonizer, the collared dove, escaped from an aviary in the Bahamas, crossed over to Florida and subsequently conquered the continent.
The history of starlings and house sparrows in North America is well known. Immigrants all over the world have often felt the need to introduce species from their homelands and there were a couple of unsuccessful introductions of starlings to the U.S. before the famous April 1890 introduction of 80 birds to Central Park in New York City. By 1928 the species had spread west to the Mississippi River and to California in 1942. House sparrows were also introduced to New York in 1852, originally as an attempt to control the linden moth. Both of these species were supremely adapted for a rapid spread in their new homeland.
House sparrows flourish around human habitation, both in urban environments and wherever there is cultivation. They are not common on the Sunshine Coast but a few can be found in downtown Sechelt and urban Gibsons.
Starlings congregate in large flocks and feed on rough pasture, often around livestock. They also wander to mudflats and shorelines in the summer.
Pigeons are semi-domesticated, generally found in close association with humans, though not directly dependent upon them. Correctly known as rock pigeons, they congregate in flocks where there is a constant food supply such as at a bird feeder. Many people have noted the flock that roosts on the power line in Selma Park, and another flock frequents the power lines at the Sechelt Marsh where they glean food from the ducks being fed.
Pigeons and doves have a long and close association with humanity, and in the last ten years or so the Eurasian collared dove has colonized the Sunshine Coast and indeed much of North America. That story will have to wait for a future column.
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 8, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
In a memorable segment, Anne fought through fish guts, a shower of cockroaches and an operating theatre filled with pigeons to bring back the stars.
The team gave Anne some motivation before she went off to undertake the trial and put all their faith in her to bring home the bacon.
Singer Fleur East said: “Anne’s grown so much as a person since she’s been here, she’s braver and makes me think she’ll do better than we think she’ll do.”
Anne then joined Dec Donnelly & Holly Willoughby to have her task explained: “This is the Hellish Hospital, your aim is to find the 11 stars that are hidden inside the gruesome vaults, you’ve got 11 minutes to find the stars and each one is worth a meal for camp.”
The first room of the hospital did not phase her as the quiz champ, star of ITV’s The Chase, picked up a star from beneath a snake and soon found another in a chest of drawers.
Anne then opened a wardrobe in the room and it was full of spiders.
After deciding to give the spiders a miss and moving on to the next room she was faced with a star hidden in a pile of offal and fish guts, before a shower of cockroaches fell onto her head.
The next room was an operating theatre full of pigeons which Anne was surprisingly fine with. She rummaged through some more offal and fish guts and found a star.
After finding another three stars she looked for the exit to enter the final room but found she could not go on any longer after discovering a large tunnel with a lizard inside.
She said: “I thought ‘Oh dear’, I’ll be on my hands and knees and just no.
“I said if I got 7 I’d feel like that was enough.” said Anne. “It’s incredible, you should be super proud.” said Holly.
After her victorious return from the trail she said: “The previous trial I was so panicked and the critters were so revolting this time I was able to keep it together a bit more. Having seven stars will mean we get a decent meal tonight.”
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 7, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
Zee TV’s popular show Guddan… Tumse Na Ho Payega (Ved Raj’s Shoonya Square Productions) will see a cute track involving a pigeon who will become Guddan’s (Kanika Mann) pet and confidante in quick time.
As we know, Guddan has been given the responsibilities of the house and she has been careless at her job.
Soon, a pigeon will make an entry into the house and into Guddan’s heart. The pigeon will turn to be Guddan’s saviour whenever she would do a mistake. The pigeon will basically safeguard the house keys that Guddan handles.
As per a reliable source, “The pigeon will no doubt help Guddan but a few problems will also get created because of its presence. In one instance, it will dirty Akshat’s (Nishant Malkani) suit and this will anger him. And Guddan will be given the duty of cleaning it up in quick time.”
We hear that two cute pigeons have been given shelter on the set of Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega for this particular track.
“They have become the centre of attraction on the set in quick time,” a source from the set says.
Aww!!
Are you all excited to see Guddan’s saviour the ‘khabootar’ in action?
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 6, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
X-rays show that the dove was a fracture of the humerus. The staff of “AVETA” have decided to enlist the help of colleagues from other veterinary clinic specialist in the diseases of birds. There are doctors along operated the dove. The fracture was closed. The bone fragments of fixed spokes. According to veterinarians, Frank on the same day began to eat, drink and waving to the sick wing.
Five weeks after surgery, the needle from the wing removed, but doctors have not yet released the dove to freedom – he needs to work out before the serious flights. Soon, Frank will be sent to Omsk pet store where, as I hope the experts he can find their owners. Doctors suggest that early bird lived in a dovecote.
We will remind, in the river on the left Bank, local residents noticed unusual pigeon. Bird traveled on the roof of the car, not flying. The incident took video of one of the drivers. The vehicle speed is not very high, as he was driving in a residential area of the city.
Users liked the antics of the birds. Some joked that the dove should be fined for ticketless travel. Others suggested that he was a superhero, which in this way of “racing to save the world.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Dec 5, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
I recently took my niece and her partner, visiting from Montreal, on a downtown walking tour. We came off James North and headed along MacNab toward the Farmers’ Market.
And there in the grey sky to the west, we saw a falcon. We watched it dart and dive by the rooftop of the G.S. Dunn mustard milling plant. Finally we realized this was no creature of nature.
A couple of days later, I returned to the scene. There was the bird, still on patrol. I headed inside the Dunn plant.
It’s an old building, corner of Park and York, across from Jackson Square. When built more than 100 years ago, it housed the Perry Knitting Company. Through the 1920s and ’30s, Duro Aluminum/Metalwares operated there.
But for the past 60 years, it’s been home to G.S. Dunn, the world’s largest dry mustard miller. They distribute to more than 50 countries across six continents.
Go through the door, and you smell the mustard seed. It’s not unpleasant, but might take getting used to.
Kevin Whyte doesn’t smell it anymore. He’s Dunn’s operations manager and has been at the plant since the early ’80s.
That’s a long time. And all that time, there have been pigeons.
You’re not supposed to feed pigeons. They can be messy critters, splattering acidic goop everywhere. You sure don’t want them roosting in your rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
The Dunn mustard seed arrives from the fields of Saskatchewan by rail, then truck. About 42 tonnes at a time, twice a day. Those trucks back up to a shiny drying silo, several storeys tall.
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)
