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peregrines (1 Viewer)

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chiffchaffer

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Hi guys and gals, I know a couple of pigeon fanciers who i play football with and talk to them regularly about how are they doing in races etc. but last week they told me that they were getting really miffed off about the number of peregrines and goshawks about and that they blame the rspb for not doing their job properly by having too many about and the number of their pigeons going missing and not being able to practise fly them etc.Basically they think they should be culled as they are spreading too fast.I'm just wondering what your views are on this.
:hi:
 
Culling bird of prey, the numbers of which have only just recovered from decades of persecution and pesticide poisoning, cannot be justified to satisfy the interests of a relatively small number of individuals who enjoy a minority pastime.
 
chiffchaffer said:
Hi guys and gals, I know a couple of pigeon fanciers who i play football with and talk to them regularly about how are they doing in races etc. but last week they told me that they were getting really miffed off about the number of peregrines and goshawks about and that they blame the rspb for not doing their job properly by having too many about and the number of their pigeons going missing and not being able to practise fly them etc.Basically they think they should be culled as they are spreading too fast.I'm just wondering what your views are on this.
:hi:
Click to expand...

Tell them to take up marbles instead
 
Thats the responses that make sense to me.My view is simply this, if you keep pigeons then expect the odd one or two be taken, peregrines are wild birds and if they see a pigeon then obviously its going to have a crack at it.Secondly, half of their pigeons just go walkies anyway due to the distances they are raced over so to put the blame purely on the falcons is just c**p.
Thanks,
Chiffchaffer.
 
This subject has been done to death several times on BF.
It is good fun to read though when the PFs get going.
 
The Valley Walker said:
Not pro or anti to be honest but pigeon fancying ain't no minority pastime for sure.
Click to expand...

It is all relative - pigeon fancying is fairly low on the list of national pastimes compared with birdwatching for example. I have no problem at all with the hobby just with the idea of culling raptors in the name of it.
 
Honestly - Can't they breed for intelligences anymore. I've see pigeons that can out think and out fly a peregrine.
 
Ayasuda - watch Valiant - yes pigeons can out fox the falcon (they have to hide under the flyhing pink animal).
Watched a family of Peregrines for an hour on Wednesday - awesome. The speed and agility was unbelievable.
As for minority sports both pigeon fancying and birdwatching (pastime) fall into the same category miles behind fishing, football and dog walking........
 
As has been said above, this topic has been beaten to death on a number of occasions, but in this particular case I am amused by the idea that the RSPB is "not doing its job", as evidenced by the existence of "too many" Peregrines.

Brilliant perspective!
 
rosbifs said:
Ayasuda - watch Valiant - yes pigeons can out fox the falcon (they have to hide under the flyhing pink animal).
Watched a family of Peregrines for an hour on Wednesday - awesome. The speed and agility was unbelievable.
As for minority sports both pigeon fancying and birdwatching (pastime) fall into the same category miles behind fishing, football and dog walking........
Click to expand...

Neither birdwatching nor pigeon fancying are sports, so I'm not sure why you are drawing this into the discussion.
 
I once told a PF friend that the greatest debt owed by pigeon racers was to the likes of Peregrines! why? because it is the hunting over time that has made the pigeon what it is today. Without natural predation the pigeon would become a dodo and who would race that.
Also Peregrines are not the indiscriminate killers they are made out to be. I am fortunate to work where a pair of Peregrines have bred for years and am able to observe them most days of my life if I wish, and I see them take a meal and then sit for hours on end sometimes with a pigeon less than 2mtrs away. If it's not hungry it won't kill!
Try asking your friends Chiffchaffer, what they do with there surplus stock, or pigeons that don't make the grade for whatever reason and if there honest you may well get the answer to who culls the most pigeons!
 
I too am amazed by the quote that the RSPB are not doing there job. There are a number of ways to reduce the loss of pigeons to raptors and I guess these have all been discussed before. Peregrines and other raptors will never be culled on the basis of taking pigeons as they are not classed as livestock. Pigeon fanciers should really take into account losses as part of this past time. I am sure more get lost on route home rather than being taken by raptors.
 
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Peregrines certainly do sit beside pigeons on the same tree or branch, i've seen it often.
The killing aspect is the same as for mammalian spp. if it runs (flies) quickly,then it's fair game.

I see badgers are now being blamed for the decline in hedgehogs and Marsh Harrier for Lapwings (in certain journals).

Not too many years ago i had to watch my step in some fields due to the numbers of Lapwing nests,but certainly no M. Harriers here.
Hedgehogs, always been about along with Badger,only problems with either is if they get a taste for the likes of ground nester eggs,or farm chickens.

As for Badgers and T.B. , the disease lurks and passes through the soil easily i've heard.
 
Neil Grubb said:
Neither birdwatching nor pigeon fancying are sports, so I'm not sure why you are drawing this into the discussion.
Click to expand...

Someone else did - mine's a reply. In fact you mentioned it before me......... As for sport I was referring to racing pigeons, which I list as a sport, and I noted birdwatching as a pastime.
 
A perfect example of a pigeon mans mentality . One day two of them were complaining of a Peregrine taking one of their pigeons. Minutes later one of the men goes into his loft and wrings ten of his pigeons necks because they were flying crap:'D .
The other day cries rang out of big hawk going over the bird in question was a heron, says it all really
 
I once witnessed two pigeon men release two baskets of pigeons on a well known peregrine moor.The thing is the three peregrine chicks had just recently fledged and the adults were teaching them how to hunt.The pigeons were scattered in all directions by the five peregrines whilst the men looked on in disbelief!
I would compare the mentality of this act to a farmer releasing a load of newborn lambs into a field where a vixen and her cubs had set up home.

It may be a bit naughty but I found it quite amusing.
 
chiffchaffer said:
Hi guys and gals, I know a couple of pigeon fanciers who i play football with and talk to them regularly about how are they doing in races etc. but last week they told me that they were getting really miffed off about the number of peregrines and goshawks about and that they blame the rspb for not doing their job properly by having too many about and the number of their pigeons going missing and not being able to practise fly them etc.Basically they think they should be culled as they are spreading too fast.I'm just wondering what your views are on this.
:hi:
Click to expand...

Hi Chiffchaffer as one of the members of the PF brigade I would like to say this type of thread has been done to death , but just to enlighten you the main avian predators of racing pigeons are Peregrines and Sparrow Hawks the Goshawk dont usually pose a problem . I suppose the RSPB are doing their jobs because we now have record numbers of the above . Which ever side of the fence you stand on the fact is Peregrines and Sparrow Hawks are taking a higher numbers of racing pigeons as well as other birds .
Some on this forum ,probably the majority will see this as a good thing .
However if numbers continue to rise as they inevetably will it wont be long before the general public who fund the RSPB will also get fed up with the more the merrier brigade when they see "their lovely little birds " being hovered up at the bird table . I dont want to get into the same old arguements again but if you want a good laugh take a look back at previous threads on this subject ;)
 
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