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[Guest bluemorning]

Birds of prey problems and pigeon fanciers

The sparrowhawk

Fast flying and tenacious this just about sums this bird eating accipiter. But do we misunderstand this predator and what can we do to try and help ourselves. The male spar is of little danger to our racing pigeons but there are exceptions to this rule. But severe injuries can be caused by panic and escape flight of our birds on the sight of a male spar in close proximity to a pigeon loft. Racing Pigeons are pretty robust and as general rule and the male spar would have a problem holding onto his pigeon dinner. But the female is a lot bigger problem, nearly half as big as a male weight wise and can catch racing pigeons but not with as much ease as people think. The main problem I have in my area is from the coming of the winter months and up to the egg laying period of the female spar in late April early may. Which is a general rule of thumb but locations over the whole of the UK will differ slightly with temperature variations etc. Songbird populations are decreasing yearly and are at its lowest through the winter months. The last two winters have been cold ones and if the ground is frozen or snow covered you will observe the wild birds in hedge bottoms and bushes foraging for food which also makes them a lot more difficult to catch. This and the songbird population being at its lowest in the winter is when the female spar will turn her attentions to exercising racing pigeons. The female spar needs to increase her weight by one third for the egg laying/ breeding period and a racing pigeon will provide a welcome high protein meal. With Pigeon rings available at the start of January the first round youngsters are at great risk while they are learning the loft location and not strong enough flyers to evade a spar attack and are also in the period the female spar needs to gain weight. But this is the direction the sport has gone with darkness systems etc. Once the female is on nest duty you should have until late July early august fairly trouble free. The male will provide most of the food required through sitting and early brooding.but as the chick’s size increases and the need for more food the female will hunt. I have a nest around a quarter of a mile away maybe less, but as sparowhawks feed the young directly from the prey carcass and need to carry the food to the nest site, I find that my pigeons are left alone the main reason is that a racing pigeon is far too heavy for a female spar to carry. But please be aware that if the sparrowhawks attempted breeding fails or an unmated female move close to your loft location you may find yourself falling victim to attacks again. But this depends on the availability of other food sources, as by this time young songbirds are plentiful and are a taken readily by the male and female spar. I believe you are better off having a pair of spars nesting near you than a unmated female or failed mating near you in the sitting and rearing period of spars. It has been mentioned that trapping of spars and their removal from problem sites but this would only encourage another female to move into this area and the problem may only be solved for a short time .So how do we stop spars from attacking our birds or minimise the attacks. Well you could close your loft completely during the winter months but as racing starts in April racing pigeons need exercise and also to undergo a training program prior to the race season. Moving the race program to early may help and racing later but this would need to be investigated as to what benefits would be achieved for young and old birds. a hunting female spar needs to get as close as possible to a racing pigeon as it needs the combination of surprise and speed to be successful as spars are sprinters and not capable of a prolonged flight like the peregrine falcon .spars hunt in several ways quartering where the spar flies in half circles at varying heights from where in can easily launch a attack, this also gives the spar an advantage of a stoop where it can generate great speed .tree to tree where the spar will stay for various periods of time as it surveys any possible prey item .once a prey item is spotted which could be a considerable distance away the spar will use low flying tactics close to the ground and all available cover to get as close as possible to its intended target without being seen by its victim, once in range the spar will launch a full attack. The spar also uses a type of hedge hopping where it flies low along a covered route to conceal its approach and then whip over the hedge, I have witnessed this where small birds feed regularly bird tables etc .there was a guy who had fantails 300 yards from me but the female spar reduced them by four in under a fortnight on my advice he closed loft and only let them out while he was there. But for over a week I observed the female spar use the same flight path a few times which got her within a few feet of the loft undetected. No fantails were to be had so her visits reduced which also helped me as her flight path was down the side of my allotment fence. I restarted with pigeons in 2009 and I have suffered several attacks from female spars ranging for December to late april.Although I see spars some weeks nearly every day I have only suffered one loss which was this year in February 2012.but I have also had a few lucky escapes so I took note of the attacks how and why and changed the way I do things. Below are a few notes to try which will hopefully help you minimise any attacks.

Your birds are most vulnerable at release time, loft sitting, and when coming to land

 

1 check that no spars are quartering close to loft before release of birds be careful in bright sunlight you can easily miss them, also the spars will come out of the sun like kamikaze pilots, once up and flying the birds will see any spar approach and usually gain height to the spars level which removes any advantage of a stoop. And at times get uncomfortably close to the spar but no spar will catch a racing pigeon in fair flight.

2 be visible around lofts at all times when birds are out

3 no loft sitting or bathing

4 do not let birds out after prolonged rainfall, birds of prey most active 1 hour rain stops

5 if you are suffering prolonged spar attacks change birds exercise times or keep them in a week or so

6 if you can have a platform to stand on which takes your head and shoulders above your loft roof the spar can see you and you can see the spar keep something handy to wave if you see a spar approach.

7 try and remove any unnecessary bushes or cover the spar may use to get within striking distance

8 when ground is frozen or snow covered keep them in, small birds feed in hedge bottoms at this time making it nearly impossible for the spars to catch them

9 The biggest no no, do not leave your birds unattended for one minute no watching telly when it’s cold or nipping in for cup of tea or the spar WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR IT.

 

 

Peregrines

Not much to say on this as anyone who has a peregrine problem will tell you how successful both the tierce and falcon are at hunting. But I would like to bring a few points to people’s attention. Peregrine as you know basically means wanderer or nomad. And after the breeding season would leave the nesting area and hunt at estuaries etc where waders gather in large numbers, returning now and again to the nest site throughout the winter, but the tides are turning. Over twenty pairs of peregrine now live in the London area and do not venture from the breeding area all year the bonus of feral pigeons songbirds in parks and gardens and a large supply of starlings in the winter months. But this may also be due to them protecting the nest site area so no other pair moves in as London is at a saturation point with unmated birds readily seeking nest sites. So why are more and more peregrines moving in our city and towns we know that peregrines have nested in London for a hundred years or more? But they seem to be spreading and occupying new towns. This could be due to less natural nesting sites being available, and easy city life with pigeons on tap but it is mainly due to nest site imprinting. Young falcons imprint on the nest site they grew up in and when at breeding age seek similar nest sites for themselves. When a pair of falcons turns up at a new location certain bodies oblige and put a nest box up which costs very little money to construct and easily placed on a tall building. A new generation of peregrines imprinted on an artificial nest sites are born, you do the maths. Don’t believe me, in Germany great effort in reintroducing tree nesting peregrines has been done where birds reared on artificial tree nests to be released back into the wild for this very same reason. In America there are fears that the urban peregrine will not cross over with birds that use more traditional nest sites cliff faces etc as the nest box birds will not accept a cliff top nest site. What will this do to the genetic makeup, will we end up with two sub species .I would also like to point out that peregrine numbers are above pre war numbers with a hell of a lot of land and habitat been lost built on and farmed since that time. We must encourage the peregrine back to more traditional nest sites, but this would be a lot more costly constructing false nest sites on cliff faces than a wooden box stuck on the side of a building. So the trend will continue, to me this falcon deserves protection but not pampering nor used as an advertisement billboard. There is one basic fact predators cannot survive without prey but sooner or later the spars numbers will decrease due to its range of prey decreasing and spars have a high mortality rate throughout the winter. but on the other hand peregrines have a massive prey range which will sustain it quiet well. Here’s some more bad news anyone aware of fear of predation this is caused by living close to predators and basically birds do not have the hatch rate or rearing rate of birds not in direct predation fear. As pigeon fanciers we are devastated to see racing pigeons leg rings scattered about peregrines nest sites, but in reality we have to accept that a large number of these will be strays of ours that have hooked up with feral pigeons. Walk through any town and you will see half a dozen races in with the feral. But peregrines do take races but how to prove the numbers and dates caught is near on impossible. But any poor fancier near a falcons nest site will be able to count his daily. I believe that all parties need to sit round a large table and talk about the future of songbirds racing pigeons and birds of prey we can’t change what’s happened in the past that’s history. But the future needs to be addressed for all concerned because if you are a bird lover and want to protect birds it must be all birds not a fashionable choice because when the prey species disappear so will the predators. Thanks martin

[Bluedoo]

be visible around lofts at all times when birds are out

 

 

Makes no difference, I've had a sphawk hit the bird on the trap with me trying to chase it in. The two of them fell at my feet.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Bluedoo

[Guest bluemorning]

be visible around lofts at all times when birds are out

 

 

Makes no difference, I've had a sphawk hit the bird on the trap with me trying to chase it in. The two of them fell at my feet.

 

hi mate

what month was it when the attack happened

[OLDYELLOW]

be visible around lofts at all times when birds are out

 

 

Makes no difference, I've had a sphawk hit the bird on the trap with me trying to chase it in. The two of them fell at my feet.

same here last year first time out took a red hen as been released on trap as for not been able to carry a pigeon off it weren't in the vicinity of the loft or any other gardens the bird had indeed been carried off . Racing later in beginning of June would help a little , but feds wont change unless we ask for it .

[Guest bluemorning]

same here last year first time out took a red hen as been released on trap as for not been able to carry a pigeon off it weren't in the vicinity of the loft or any other gardens the bird had indeed been carried off . Racing later in beginning of June would help a little , but feds wont change unless we ask for it .

 

 

spars will drag kills into dense cover and can be difficult to find.

in a cold winter spars will take chances because of hunger and when locked onto prey see little else thats why a platform comes into use the spar will notice you on her approach and think twice.the only way a spar hen is going when it catches a pigeon is down a female spar weighs about 11 oz see note on release of birds.

[OLDYELLOW]

spars will drag kills into dense cover and can be difficult to find.

in a cold winter spars will take chances because of hunger and when locked onto prey see little else thats why a platform comes into use the spar will notice you on her approach and think twice.

open gardens to rear of loft flats to right hand side then road and large green , big drive next doors garden , no cover looked all way round loft back lane and gardens even field no sign it was definitely carried off !!!!

[Guest bluemorning]

open gardens to rear of loft flats to right hand side then road and large green , big drive next doors garden , no cover looked all way round loft back lane and gardens even field no sign it was definitely carried off !!!!

 

not a spar then

[OLDYELLOW]

Used to have the male sitting on a tv aerial next to road at back of loft never bothered or attempted to hit birds , thankfully they have had a new aerial put up I haven't had any attacks around loft since last time most of time mine get hit training no mater what time of day the hill line is full of them . However if get hit again I have pea netting to put up with a washing line

[OLDYELLOW]

not a spar then

It most definitely was , that's all there is around here other than the percys at the coast , the sparrow hawks have adapted gone from sparrow to pigeons perhaps now there food source has changed perhaps there no longer as incapable of such feats , have sat in my garden and watched the female spar chase a blackbird crashing through a tree , so am sure it's 100% a spar unless a hybrid which could be possible , but it certainly took the bird watched it with my own eyes , I went searching straight away , gone not in the vicinity of lofts gardens or large green area .

[Guest bluemorning]

It most definitely was , that's all there is around here other than the percys at the coast , the sparrow hawks have adapted gone from sparrow to pigeons perhaps now there food source has changed perhaps there no longer as incapable of such feats , have sat in my garden and watched the female spar chase a blackbird crashing through a tree , so am sure it's 100% a spar unless a hybrid which could be possible , but it certainly took the bird watched it with my own eyes , I went searching straight away , gone not in the vicinity of lofts gardens or large green area .

 

its not impossible for the pigeon to shake the spar off and be hit again a short distance but spars are sprinters yes spars have taken wood pigeons and are also taking magpies and jackdaws which can injure the spar more proof that its prefered prey are getting less every year.but unless the spar gets an advantage over a racer it aint gonna catch one in fair flight

[Fly_caster]

Great write-up and bang on the money factually.

 

I entertain many SH attacks every year and have never seen a SH carry a pigeon "away" although I have seen her take a bird off the loft roof and "glide" with it into a field some 15 - 20M away, whereupon she dragged it to the verge of the cut field where the grass was longer before trying to deplume it.

 

I had to intervene at that stage and it only reluctantly let go........

 

 

Good article - well done,

 

 

Steve

[OLDYELLOW]

its not impossible for the pigeon to shake the spar off and be hit again a short distance but spars are sprinters yes spars have taken wood pigeons and are also taking magpies and jackdaws which can injure the spar more proof that its prefered prey are getting less every year.but unless the spar gets an advantage over a racer it aint gonna catch one in fair flight

was taken off the landing board I'd just let them out , was looking at hen and next was a bunch of down feathers up in air .

[Guest bluemorning]

Great write-up and bang on the money factually.

 

I entertain many SH attacks every year and have never seen a SH carry a pigeon "away" although I have seen her take a bird off the loft roof and "glide" with it into a field some 15 - 20M away, whereupon she dragged it to the verge of the cut field where the grass was longer before trying to deplume it.

 

I had to intervene at that stage and it only reluctantly let go........

 

 

Good article - well done,

 

 

Steve

 

 

thanks steve mate

was wondering if its worth sending to raptor alliance,also i have an idea about how to deter bop attacks but need to do a bit more research first

[sapper756]

I really enjoyed this write up and the replies, well done http://forum.pigeonbasics.org/public/style_emoticons/default/emoticon-0137-clapping.gif

 

 

[Fly_caster]

thanks steve mate

was wondering if its worth sending to raptor alliance,also i have an idea about how to deter bop attacks but need to do a bit more research first

 

 

Hiya,

 

 

Yes - it wouldn't hurt now - would it ?

 

The deterrents need to comply with the law - I also know a bunch but I'm afraid that censorship of one form or another would make them illegible to most

 

Keep up the good work !

 

 

Steve

[Guest geordiejen]

last year i remember losing 2 hens in a matter of less than a hour,both were taken down from the loft into the neighbours garden.it was late march and when i went looking for them they werent very far.one was a red cheq the other was black with white flights.made a real mess of the neighbours garden i noticed a hen spar in the neighbours tree cleaning its beak on the branch.then i noticed lots of feathers in the garden and both hens only had there wings intact.havent noticed any kills since then.i kept the birds in for 2 weeks.

[Guest bluemorning]

last year i remember losing 2 hens in a matter of less than a hour,both were taken down from the loft into the neighbours garden.it was late march and when i went looking for them they werent very far.one was a red cheq the other was black with white flights.made a real mess of the neighbours garden i noticed a hen spar in the neighbours tree cleaning its beak on the branch.then i noticed lots of feathers in the garden and both hens only had there wings intact.havent noticed any kills since then.i kept the birds in for 2 weeks.

 

this is the danger of loft sitting as soon as your birds land get them in its more important up to the start of may.once a female spar kills she will keep coming until you change things once she has no luck her visits will drop off.goodluck

[Novice]

I appreciate the work which has gone into the above script however to say that the majority of pigeon rings found in percy nests belong to racers which have gone feral is supposition and paints this killer as some kind of superhero cleaning up the streets. This is not the image the pigeon fancy should promote.

Feral pigeons tend to fly low and are high risk targets for percy. Feral racers also copy this flight pattern.

The number of ferals we see populating shopping centres and other areas suggests that percy has little interest in feral pigeons.

Given that each pair of ferals will rear 4 youngsters each year and that percy needs one pigeon each day to survive then I suggest a few feral munching percies would soon eliminate the feral species.

Given my losses at training and racing during the month of August I would suggest that most of these rings actually belong to either returning or exercising racers.

[Guest bluemorning]

I appreciate the work which has gone into the above script however to say that the majority of pigeon rings found in percy nests belong to racers which have gone feral is supposition and paints this killer as some kind of superhero cleaning up the streets. This is not the image the pigeon fancy should promote.

Feral pigeons tend to fly low and are high risk targets for percy. Feral racers also copy this flight pattern.

The number of ferals we see populating shopping centres and other areas suggests that percy has little interest in feral pigeons.

Given that each pair of ferals will rear 4 youngsters each year and that percy needs one pigeon each day to survive then I suggest a few feral munching percies would soon eliminate the feral species.

Given my losses at training and racing during the month of August I would suggest that most of these rings actually belong to either returning or exercising racers.

 

hi mate

i am not saying that all pigeons rings in peregrine nests are pigeons gone feral.i am not painting the peregrine as a superhero but the stray problem needs to be addressed feral pigeons rear a lot more birds than 4 a year and a lot of feral pigeon are offspring of past lost racers if we dont get our facts right the first thing the RSPB will say is that pigeon racing is cruel due to the vast ammount of lost pigeons every year which hit wires die of starvation etc and will admit that a small percent of racers are taken and the peregrine is doing towns a favour by keeping the number of flying rats to a minimum this is the view of every joe soap the fanciers with peregrine problems see how many birds the peregrine takes on exercise this can be proved ring nos day time etc but you cant prove how many races they take every race day.a pair of of peregrines were reported to take from jan-april 26% of pigeons may-august 31% of pigeons as prey also in the latter period 16% of starlings fell victim thats 47% the rest were songbirds waders crows etc

[Novice]

hi mate

i am not saying that all pigeons rings in peregrine nests are pigeons gone feral.i am not painting the peregrine as a superhero but the stray problem needs to be addressed feral pigeons rear a lot more birds than 4 a year and a lot of feral pigeon are offspring of past lost racers if we dont get our facts right the first thing the RSPB will say is that pigeon racing is cruel due to the vast ammount of lost pigeons every year which hit wires die of starvation etc and will admit that a small percent of racers are taken and the peregrine is doing towns a favour by keeping the number of flying rats to a minimum this is the view of every joe soap the fanciers with peregrine problems see how many birds the peregrine takes on exercise this can be proved ring nos day time etc but you cant prove how many races they take every race day.a pair of of peregrines were reported to take from jan-april 26% of pigeons may-august 31% of pigeons as prey also in the latter period 16% of starlings fell victim thats 47% the rest were songbirds waders crows etc

 

I am not looking for an arguement in any way shape or form.

During the month of August we had a family of these killers hunting here.

They had a successful breeding season and i think the main reason for this was the large number of seagulls on the landfill tip.

It was strange watching these as one of them was obviously not accepted into the group for some reason. It was constantly squaking as though it was always hungry.

 

Myself and fellow club members lost many racers during this period. I even had 2 6 year old stock hens in a basket in the hut and released both to fly back to the loft (20 yards ) and one never made it home. Only percy could have accounted for this. However when I pass the local churches I don't see a decrease in feral numbers.

[Guest bluemorning]

I am not looking for an arguement in any way shape or form.

During the month of August we had a family of these killers hunting here.

They had a successful breeding season and i think the main reason for this was the large number of seagulls on the landfill tip.

It was strange watching these as one of them was obviously not accepted into the group for some reason. It was constantly squaking as though it was always hungry.

 

Myself and fellow club members lost many racers during this period. I even had 2 6 year old stock hens in a basket in the hut and released both to fly back to the loft (20 yards ) and one never made it home. Only percy could have accounted for this. However when I pass the local churches I don't see a decrease in feral numbers.

[Guest bluemorning]

I am not looking for an arguement in any way shape or form.

During the month of August we had a family of these killers hunting here.

They had a successful breeding season and i think the main reason for this was the large number of seagulls on the landfill tip.

It was strange watching these as one of them was obviously not accepted into the group for some reason. It was constantly squaking as though it was always hungry.

 

Myself and fellow club members lost many racers during this period. I even had 2 6 year old stock hens in a basket in the hut and released both to fly back to the loft (20 yards ) and one never made it home. Only percy could have accounted for this. However when I pass the local churches I don't see a decrease in feral numbers.

 

sorry to hear you are having it rough up your way and theres no doubt that returning racers are hit by birds of prey but feral pigeons reproduce very quickly, and the gull population near you may also account for more feral pigeons as for the outcast percy it could well be last years young bird drifted back in and the parents will recognise it but will not feed it. or just plain begging some birds of prey can get very good at catching certian prey in falconry this is called wedded to the prey item and can become the first choice you may be correct and the racer could appeal to the peregrine as a larger meal, but most of the time to a peregrine pigeon is pigeon

[bibendium]

I appreciate the work which has gone into the above script however to say that the majority of pigeon rings found in percy nests belong to racers which have gone feral is supposition and paints this killer as some kind of superhero cleaning up the streets. This is not the image the pigeon fancy should promote.

Feral pigeons tend to fly low and are high risk targets for percy. Feral racers also copy this flight pattern.

The number of ferals we see populating shopping centres and other areas suggests that percy has little interest in feral pigeons.

Given that each pair of ferals will rear 4 youngsters each year and that percy needs one pigeon each day to survive then I suggest a few feral munching percies would soon eliminate the feral species.

Given my losses at training and racing during the month of August I would suggest that most of these rings actually belong to either returning or exercising racers.

 

 

 

Got to agree with you, where I am there is a building about 1/2 a mile away which is home to 3/400 feral pigeons it is very rare to see percy or spar attack them , however it may be that being feral they are more streetwise so to speak.

 

[Guest stb-]

a few years back at club marking a sparr hen flew in the club door and tried to grab the pigeon that the guy was putting the rubber ring on so aint scarred of humans nowadays

[Guest bluemorning]

a few years back at club marking a sparr hen flew in the club door and tried to grab the pigeon that the guy was putting the rubber ring on so aint scarred of humans nowadays

 

falconers use spars for hunting but the birds are easier to handle if imprinted which is hand reared from hatching in isolation from other birds of prey and imprints on humans this imprint has no fear of people because it thinks it is one this could be your case