Pigeons
Pigeons
Scientific Name: Columba livia
How to identify a pigeon
Pigeons are gentle, plump, small-billed birds with a skin saddle (cere) between the bill and forehead. All pigeons strut about with a characteristic bobbing of the head. Because of their long wings and powerful flight muscles, they are strong, swift fliers.
Where are pigeons commonly found?
Pigeons are commonly found on and around skyscrapers, highway overpasses, farm buildings, abandoned buildings, and other human structures with ample crevices are conducive to pidgeon nesting. They will also rest on building ledges, walls or statues.
Why are pigeons considered a pest?
Pigeons excrete urates which over time corrodes masonry and metal.
Contact with pigeon droppings poses a minor risk of contracting fungal infections that affect the lungs, with long term exposure to droppings and feathers inducing an allergy known as bird fancier's lung and other bacterial contagions. Pigeons are also carriers of Salmonella.
What is the biology and lifecycle of pigeons?
Pigeons are monogamous; i.e., they mate for life, and the survivor accepts a new mate only slowly. The female lays two glossy white eggs in a flimsy nest that barely holds them. The female generally incubates the eggs by night, the male by day. The incubation period is 14 to 19 days, but the young are cared for in the nest for another 12 to 18 days.
Management Tips for Pigeons
To effectively protect a building from a bird problem, it often requires a combination of products. Take into account the following in designing your bird protection system:
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Bird species/pressure
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Building structure
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Location of problem
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Installation issues
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Durability requirements
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Aesthetic requirements
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Safety/environmental concerns
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Cost
A wide range of bird protection systems are available to effectively protect a building from a bird problem with various different methods:
Area exclusions - When installed correctly, bird netting provides the most complete, humane and durable system for bird exclusion.
Ledge exclusion - Large Birds: A system of spikes, wires and spiders can be utilised to discourage birds from landing on ledges. All Birds: a system of slopes and shock systems can be utilised.
Scare devices - A variety of scarer and repeller devices are available
Traps - For humane and safe removal of birds, particularly in sensitive areas
Avicide - For pigeons, sparrows and starlings. Only for application by authorised persons.
Solar panel protection - Solar panel exclusion kits are designed to prevent nesting under solar arrays - avoids expensive damage and reduction in efficiency due to bird droppings on panels.
Disease protection - PX Ornikill can be used as a clean up product and disease protection treatment, kill a range of disease organisms associated with pest birds such as ornithosis and psittacosis.
