News, Videos & Other Webcams > About Birding

Pigeons endangered?

<< < (2/2)

The Peregrine Chick:
Interesting question Lifo.  Actually pigeons are not traditional food for peregrines, they prefer the species Rose listed at the Radisson too.  But its a bit like having a 7-11 nearby, you would prefer to have a home-made smoothie, but 7-11 is closeand you don't mind having a Slurpee since its quick and you have to take the dog for a walk anyway.

Seriously though, if the pigeons disappeared, the peregrines would rely more on the other species around town - generally pigeon size or larger as smaller really don't have enough on them to make the labour cost-efficient.   It would probably mean more time spent at the water treatment facilities, along the river and at nearby marshes.  The U of M birds used to dine most frequently on gulls, so perhaps the gull population would take a bit of a hit.

Do I really thing that pigeon numbers will decline so much that the peregrines would be greatly impacted?  I'm inclined to say no just because pigeons are very efficient breeders - start early, end late and do it often.

I have always found this Wikipedia entry to be pretty all encompassing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Pigeon

Rose:
Lifo, perhaps we could send some of the Brandon Pigeons to Winnipeg,it seems as if we have an ever increasing number.Our falcons here (Brandon) much prefer any other bird to a pigeon example Sora Rails (lots),black billed Cuckoos,Yellow Headed Black birds, Kildeer, Blue Jays, other unrecognized Shore birds, Flickers, and even small ducks(blue winged teal). Have seen very few body parts of Pigeons lying around the building.

lifo:
I have noticed that there seem to be far fewer pigeons in Wpg. than there used to be. The last few trips downtown I have been watching for them in the locations where I used to see them and I noticed that many of their roosting/nesting areas have been removed from bldgs. Overhanging eaves have been removed on some bldgs. and the eaves covered with metal panels on others. Then I started to wonder about food for the pigeons and realized that as we have revamped our rail transportation system, grain cars (railroad) in particular we have removed what was the major source of food for pigeons, not only in the cities, but in almost every small town that had a grain elevator. The old wooden grain cars used to leak a lot of grain, especially in the rail yards where the cars were shunted, and cleaned.

Every rail line through our cities used to have abandoned, open buildings where the birds could roost and safely raise their young. These bldgs. were close to a major source of food. These are quickly being razed or converted for other uses, such as the Forks.

Modern buildings are not conducive for birds nesting on them. Most modern office buildings and even light industrial buildings don't have eaves that are open. A favorite roosting area for pigeons.

Many old abandoned houses are being razed for new development.

These changes, if I am correct in my assumptions, could have a major impact on the Falcon Restoration Project.

Questions: How many pigeons are there in Wpg. and is their population really on the decline as I suspect, or have they just relocated out of the downtown area.? How is this impacting the Falcon Restoration Project?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page