wild bird feeding (1 Viewer)

Sorry to be displaying my ignorance again, but there are so many unanswered Q's in my head that this forum probably is better than the variety of answers on google etc..

No 1. I am watching a pidgeon building a nest in July. Is this unusual given the lateness of the season? Do they breed twice a season?

No 2. The stores here in Cornwall UK sell so called ' squirrel proof bird food. Usually it has peppers etc in it to deter squirrels but who can say if the birds suffer as well?

No 3. Do most garden birds, Blue tits, blackbirds, Robins etc have a similar life span?

If anyone can enlighten me on the above Q's I would most grateful!

1. Wood pigeons have been recorded as incubating eggs throughout the year but it is not unusual for them to be raising young right through to October. As will Collared Dove.
2. The visiting birds should ignore the peppers (capsicum / bell).......though some tropical species will readily eat chilli peppers. A sturdy squirrel proof feeder is probably better if your still concerned. I think it is added as a ground pepper rather than whole.
3. Small garden birds ( tits / robins / wren / dunnock) generally live for 1 or 2 years - the larger ones such as crows, a bit longer.

PYRTLE said:

1. Wood pigeons have been recorded as incubating eggs throughout the year but it is not unusual for them to be raising young right through to October. As will Collared Dove.
2. The visiting birds should ignore the peppers (capsicum / bell).......though some tropical species will readily eat chilli peppers. A sturdy squirrel proof feeder is probably better if your still concerned. I think it is added as a ground pepper rather than whole.
3. Small garden birds ( tits / robins / wren / dunnock) generally live for 1 or 2 years - the larger ones such as crows, a bit longer.

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Many thanks Pat, much appreciated.

Woodpigeons have been known to have 5 broods in a year! I've seen them incubating in December, and newly-fledged young on 1 January.

Birds readily, and safely, eat chilli pepper - the 'hot' compound in them (capsaicin) doesn't harm them at all. The reason capsaicin evolved was because birds (which are good seed dispersers, flying a long way before pooping out the seeds) can't taste it, while mammals (which are generally poor seed dispersers) were discouraged from eating them. The seeds which survived the best were in the fruit with the best discriminant between birds and mammals. So yes, bird food with pepper is good for them - just be careful not to touch your eyes when handling it! Only other thing to watch out for is that some squirrels will (like some people!) become curry junkies and get a taste for it and go on raiding the feeders 3

While Pat is right that most small garden birds generally live for 1 or 2 years, lucky individuals of most of these can make it to 6-8 years. Seabirds can be much longer-lived; Storm Petrels (same weight as a sparrow!) can live to be over 40, and Fulmars over 55.