Pigeon Wars (1 Viewer)

I recently found myself next to the infamous Copper Beech in Bristol which was in the news briefly last year and was the subject of this thread.

https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=354809

Despite the huge number (50,000+) of people who petitioned to have the spikes removed they're still there. While I was looking at it one of the nearby residents stopped to pass comment. Apparently the offending birds were indeed Woodpigeons and when I happened to mention that I hadn't seen a single Feral Pigeon anywhere in the vicinity they mentioned that they thought the Woodpigeons had "seen them off".

This got me thinking and I checked out a few gardens in Bristol where Feral Pigeons used to be a problem - to my surprise they now seem to be the exclusive preserve of Woodies.

Woodpigeons seem to have adapted very successfully to urban and suburban environments in the UK (I even found them perched on a carwash that was in use!) while Feral pigeons seem to be in decline?

Hardly an in-depth study but I struggled to find Feral Pigeons in Bristol (presumably they're still in the City centre?) The situation is similar in a few other places I've looked at.

I'm wondering if the bigger, stronger Woodies are pushing the Ferals out as they take over more and more gardens?

Up here in Leeds, I only see feral pigeons in the city centre. I don't think I've ever had a feral pigeon visit my garden.

Wood pigeons are of course ubiquitous and their rise in urban and suburban areas is quite remarkable. 20 years ago they were always associated with the countryside, but now they are seen in over 75% of British gardens, and are the 5th most commonly seen bird - over the years it has risen above the robin, great tit and collared dove, to name but a few. I wouldn't be surprised to see it rise even further.

They are still rather timid but in my garden they won't fly away just by seeing you. It's only when you get too close that they take off. Only yesterday I was putting away my lawn mower and a wood pigeon was on my bird feeder just a few feet away. They also have voracious appetites and for this reason are often an unpopular garden visitor! I love them though.

Newcastle / southeast Northumbs:

Woodpigeon - abundant, except scarce in treeless city centre

Stock Dove - frequent in city parks and on urban fringe, including derelict industrial sites (sometimes mixing with Ferals)

Feral Pigeon - abundant in city centre, smaller numbers around schools and smaller shopping streets, anywhere where people (mainly kids) discard lots of food

Collared Dove - decidedly rare, mainly in outer suburbs (scattered) and smaller countryside villages (frequent); near-absent from inner suburbs and none in city centre

The Aberdeen situation:

Wood Pigeon: Common and widespread throughout
Feral Pigeon: Common and widespread throughout, including cliff-nesting birds in the south of the city
Collared Dove: Widespread but in fairly low numbers
Stock Dove: Localised but sometimes breeding in parks and other more wooded areas

Collared doves are common in the area - their monotonous cooing is a daily sound and very familiar. I strongly associate it with summer. We had a pair visiting the garden frequently until the local magpies chased them off.

Stock doves - can't recall seeing any around here, but I might have done and just not noticed (or mistook them for wood pigeons at a glance).

The widespread success of Woodpigeon is very noticeable to me, having not lived in the UK for the last 11 years. The decline in Feral Pigeons had mostly escaped my notice.

The situation in rural France is very different - Woodpigeons are extremely wary and I only have to raise binoculars or even just my arm to elicit an immediate panicked departure (sensible for a species that is so widely shot). I wonder whether birds migrating from one country to the other alter their behaviour accordingly.

But I guess well fed suburban Woodies don't migrate anywhere?

Fairly typical just now: 140 Wood Pigeons & 4 Stock Doves grazing on school footy field near where I live.

Collarded doves at one time ruled the roost here in derbyshire where I live especially in the 80,s 90,s but somewhere in the 2000,s it changed to wood pigeon we still get collarded doves but only in small numbers now days I saw one yesterday on the neibours tv Aerial, yes you only have to step outdoors when any woodies are Present and they soon take off soon to be back thou the males as now get very amourous with the femails as they follow them all over the place, one late auturm around 10 years or more ago over local farmland there must have been over a thousand woodies this number represents many similar counts and more during that time of the year and Into the winter to in present times.

Stock Dove is nowhere near being a City bird in Nottingham, still very much a farmland bird.

Woodpig is a common garden bird now in Nottingham but Collared Dove seems to have diminished in my area where I never see feral pigeons.



A

I only ever see Wood pigeons around here. Still waiting to spot a feral or a collared dove.

have wood pigeons increased overall or just moved into suburbs from a less welcoming country environment?
never saw them in town back in 70's, except as lightly grilled breasts or occasional pie but plenty came in to the fields and bred in the woodland

in lymm, which is semi rural, they, woodies, are all over the place with no ferals seen but in warrington, the town area nearest, plenty of ferals.
out here in lymm there are also a few collared doves, two pairs i know of and they also hang around the terraced houses and parks in town enough to notice.

i dont know why 'ferals' are losing ground. i believe they were once 'rock pigeons' and they still breed under bridges and on the older buildings in warrington and widnes but perhaps less food waste around with regular street sweeping also affects them

jape said:

have wood pigeons increased overall or just moved into suburbs from a less welcoming country environment?

Click to expand...

Woodpigeon numbers have been increasing so it could simply be that they've expanded their breeding range more into gardens and urban habitats - doesn't mean they've necessarily moved out of rural areas.