Articles > Winged Predators

Winged Predators

• Update June 28, 2002

I am a birder, as in the study of wild birds. In Britain I would be a 'twitcher.' Because of this lifetime interest, I co-exist with the winged predators even when they take one of my racing birds. Two species of falcons visit this area, the Peregrine and the Merlin. The cliffs on the island are good nesting sites.

I can always tell if there is a falcon around when the racers are out exercising. They take evasive action by heading for the trees and even land on the ground around me if I am out in the garden. Falcons have pointed wings and fly in a similar manner to pigeons. Their strategy is to try and fly higher than the pigeons so that they can dive or 'stoop' on them, strike them in mid-air and then follow them to the ground for a meal.

Another dangerous group of predators is the Accipiters. Here there are three species, the most common being the Sharp-Shinned Hawk and the Cooper's Hawk, with the Goshawk being a rare visitor. The British Sparrow Hawk would be equivalent to our Cooper's Hawk. Accipiters have rounded wings and long tails which enable them to maneuver easily through trees and surprise their prey. Their manner of flying can best be described as, flap-flap-glide. Racing pigeons can fly faster and easily escape if they are not surprised. If you have a winged predator actually enter your loft, it will be an accipiter; they are persistent hunters.

We have a lot of Bald Eagles here on Gabriola Island, but they are not a threat to the pigeons as they prefer to eat carrion. I did lose a racer to an eagle once when my loft was situated on the ocean. The pigeons liked to fly along the shore just above water level. One of them, for some reason, found itself in the water. It was doing a very good job of making it to shore by using its wings as oars, but before I could go and help it, an eagle swooped down and carried it off. The bird was a Busschaert, coloured black and white, and perhaps the eagle thought it was a seagull.

When DDT was being used as a pesticide the winged predators had a very bad time of it and their numbers declined sharply. Now that DDT is out of the picture, they are making a comeback and several programs have been launched to repopulate some areas. This does not help pigeon fanciers but it is part of 'the greater scheme of things.'

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As Aristotle said when asked why the chicken crossed the road, "It is for the greater common good."

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Since writing the article on winged predators my loft was visited by an adult goshawk, the one I referred to as rare. Some of the yearlings were out, but they took off and eluded the goshawk which flew around the outside of the loft 'casing the joint.' Once the predator disappeared, the three or four birds which took off returned and went back into the loft. I hope they were wiser for their experience.

Update: June 28, 2002
I have been studying a report published in March, 2002 by Andrew Dixon (Lancaster University in the UK), entitled "Attacks by Birds of Prey on Racing Pigeons." The report was commissioned by the Confedaration of Long Distance Racing Pigeon Unions of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and is 60 pages.

There is a lot of detail on the history of raptor predation, the diet of raptors and their mode of attack, the use of deterrents around the loft and even deterrents on the birds. The report seems to suggest that deterrents are not very effective. The peak time of year for attacks is, of course, at the time the predators are feeding growing young which coincides with the old birds racing season.

I now get daily visits by falcons when my young birds are excercising and I had hoped that the report would help me solve the problem in some way. It did increase my knowledge of the habits of predators but gave me no useful information on how to combat the problem of losses.

I will continue to confine the birds during the winter, even though attacks are less likely at this time, and I will breed enough young birds to allow for any losses. I also stagger the exercise periods so that the predators do not get into the routine of expecting a meal at certain times.

One of the biggest problems is the unsettling effect of predator attacks on the birds. Our pigeons should recognize their loft as a safe place which they can readily enter on their return from racing and exercise. Fanciers know that most of the injuries that occur are the result of taking evasive action from predators and a pigeon's racing career can be quickly terminated by wing damage.

I enjoy watching and studying wild birds and realize that I must co-exist with the predators and accept the losses to my racers as inevitable. The predator population is increasing and the problem of losses is not going to lessen.

Email me at laurholb@telus.net.