The wood pigeon, besides being one of the handsomest birds
around, is either very wary or very gullible.
When I
lived in the country, you were very lucky to get to within half a mile of any
wood pigeon, unless you either set up decoys or waited beneath a tree where
they would roost.
For the
roosting lot you might shoot a couple for the pot, but by making very simple
decoys of folded and painted cardboard, held on a twist of fencing wire and
pointing up-wind, you could be of great help to a farmer as a noisy scarecrow.
Moreover, you could shoot so many of these tasty birds that one simply cut off
the breast meat for stews and patés and buried the rest. This arrangement meant
more grain to harvest for the farmer and more food to eat for the marksman.
The wood
pigeon in London ,
though, is quite a different beast. It
might land close to you and look you in the eye boldly before eating as much of
other bird’s food that you might have on offer. And it is small garden birds
that most of us want to help through a cold winter and encourage to nest and
breed in the garden. They make such delightful and colourful mobiles.
So how to
prevent large and greedy wood pigeons from hogging bird food?
Nuts in an
anti-squirrel feeder are safe from their predatory beaks, but any feeder with a
try beneath to catch husks and uneaten bird food makes a landing and
claw-purchasing place for the agile villains – who then proceed to eat and then
foul the garden flagstones.
I have
found that chicken wire as a deterrent in any configuration is not only
unsightly but has little effect. A wood pigeon will simply land on it, compress
it, and use it as a perch for dinner.
An observer
of a wood pigeon taking off from a site will notice that it has to raise its
wings high above its body. So if you can prevent them from taking off you will
stop them from landing. So, in that way, the problem will have been solved.
A
weatherproofed, hardboard disc, fitting around a tube of food, and wired in a
position to prevent the raising of wings, is the answer when the feeding
outlets are low down on the tube. But for a two-tier feeder (as for
goldfinches’ niger
seed) it is far more difficult. I tried the disc method, and was defeated. So I
added to the disc my never-failing, anti-animal solution – that of spreading
engine grease mixed with chilli powder where feet or claws might land. This
worked, but made a nasty, greasy, seed-coated mess. So the idea was abandoned.
The wood pigeons were winning.
Margreet
then came up with the idea of a bucket, slung beneath a bare feeder. So I made
one, with a “handle” of copper wire threaded through the rim of a 6” black
plastic flower-pot.
The
previous device of greasy disc was destroyed and feeding tube cleaned. A hook
was then added to beneath the feeder, and the “bucket” suspended from it. To
prevent husks and uneaten seeds falling through the pot’s drainage holes, and
yet allow rainwater through, a circle of plastic was cut to almost fit the
bottom of the pot.
The pigeons
are unable to hang on to the goldfinches’ perching places and uneaten seeds and
husks are trapped in a bucket that they are unable to raid.
We now have
a cleaner garden and some frustrated wood pigeons.
