Any idea what's happening here? (1 Viewer)

[ChrisKten]

Here is a pic of one of at least 4 Pigeons injured over the last 6 months, and I'm not sure of the culprit. Pic through double gazing and poor light, but you can see the injury.

First one that appeared was unable to fly, and looked like she'd escaped from a Cat. I brought her in, and expected her to die from infection from the infamous germ-laden Cat's bite... but she fully recovered after a couple of weeks, so I released her. That was 5 months ago, she's successfully (AFAIK) mated since.

A few weeks later, a Wood Pigeon showed up looking near death. It had half it's wing feathers missing from one wing, and looked half-eaten. If not for the missing wing feathers, I'd have thought a Sparrowhawk likely, but the wings of prey are nearly always intact, and it didn't look right. I've no idea how, but the Wood Pigeon escaped me and flew off... with only one-and-a-half wings, and chewed up, I expect it's long dead now.

Since then, every now and again, other Pigeons have showed up with an identical injury... upper chest, near/under wing joint. Looks like a small area has been plucked - right-side of chest most obvious, some (not all) have barely-noticeable injury on the other side as well. The birds are shocked and struggle to fly, but all have either flown off on their own or have been helped by me and recovered fully.

So, I've eliminated a Sparrowhawk - one this useless at subduing and eating prey wouldn't last long. A Cat would be my best guess, except all birds are surviving - I'd expect to see at least one bird die from infection. Incidently, years ago, Pigeons were being killed by Cats, but I couldn't figure out how they was being caught, as my garden is pretty well protected from Cats (yes, I know, they overcome most of our feeble efforts to deter them). One day I saw a paw with outstretched claws poke through a hole at the bottom of the fence. A Cat had been waiting on the other side of the fence for Pigeons to walk by - injuring the wing/chest closest to the fence - climbing over to get the Pigeon that was now unable to fly.

Also, Cats do injure animals to "play" with them - I've seen them cripple mice and birds so they couldn't escape... they then tease them by letting them get away a bit before catching them again. But these Pigeons can still fly, so only an inept Cat would make sense I guess.

One other possibility is the Squirrels, as the Pigeons harass them to get them to drop the kernels from the Monkey Nuts as they extract them from the shells. Eventually the Squirrels get annoyed and lash out, but I've not seen any obvious injuries caused by it. But if you've ever seen a Squirrel's claws close up, you'll know that they can cause injury very easily when necessary.

So, any other ideas what could be causing this?

 

[KenM]

The injury appears to be low down on the body Chris, might well suggest a ground predator....take your pick. :eek!:

Cheers

 

[ChrisKten]

Thanks for replying, Ken. The injury is actually higher up than it appears in the pic, as the bird was slumping and leaning forward a bit, but I'd say ground attack is favourite.

Due to the lack of infection, and the fact all those attacked seem to recover, I think it's one of the Squirrels. The Pigeons do wing-slap the Squirrels to get them to drop the nuts, so I guess I can't blame the Squirrels for getting annoyed

 

[Th. Stegmann]

Hi Chris,

the pictured bird most likely hit a high voltage power line in full flight.
Travelling with up to 100-120 km/h by tailwinds, pigeons are fast flyers in flocks and these accidents are quiet regular. The front birds might avoid the obstacle, the rear can't react fast enough, like in some car accidents on roads... It depends on speed and angle if the bird gets fatally injured or not.
I saw pigeons, that survived with open crop so that water they drank flew out or grains fall out... Others where missing a leg... And so on... :-(

Greetings
Thorsten

 

[ChrisKten]

Thanks for replying, Thorsten. I'd not considered power lines, but I guess anything is possible. Although I still think the Squirrels are the most likely cause.

Pigeons are great survivors, I've at least 4 garden regulars missing a leg (was tangled in anti-roost netting that cuts off blood supply to foot/leg) - at least 10 are missing feet or toes. The injured ones mate and breed just like the able-bodied ones. Like most other Animals they just carry on regardless, unlike us, who complain when we have a headache

 

[Kits]

I am not sure that it a cat attack, Ken, as pigeons are pretty big for a cat. They tend to prefer smaller birds. Might it be a young sparrowhawk who has yet to perfect the art of catching and killing?

 

[ChrisKten]

You've obviously not seen our local Cats, Kits... even the Foxes are scared of them Unfortunately, I've seen many Pigeons taken by Cats over the years. The Cats often carry the Pigeons they catch by holding one wing in their jaws.

Apart from the type and consistency of the injuries, it's the wrong time of year for a young Sparrowhawk. Any Sparrowhawk from January (time of first attack), would be a 2cy bird, and would have survived through the winter and learned how to subdue and eat it's prey by then, which it wouldn't have done if it's prey kept escaping it's talons. One getting away wouldn't be unusual, but more than 4 (as I mentioned in my initial post), would be highly unlikely in my experience.

I've been watching the recent injured Pigeon, and he's giving the Squirrels a wide berth, which isn't normal behaviour for him - he pesters the Squirrels and wing-slaps them usually. So the more I think about, and the more I watch, the more convinced I am that it's one of the Squirrels - all I need to do now it get a pic of it happening.

 

[Edwin Sapatsch]

Cats causing havok here in North London, nearly every household seems to own what are locally called the 'Lazy man's Dog', some own several.

Can remember my (then) young daughter slipping into our bed of a Sunday morning some 20 years ago saying the 'Music' had woken her up. Turned out the music was the dawn chorus....it would hardly wake her these days!

Witnessed cats torturing everything from Tits through to; Reptiles, mammals up to the size of squirrels, and only this morning the next door cat brought back another Wood Pigeon. Fledgling Tits, Robins and Blackbirds are easy & regular prey sadly.

My suggestions of attaching a small bell onto neighbours cats collars are met with repulsion....anyway THEIR cats are really well fed and don't need to hunt.

My mind boggles ................ endlessly!

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