Pigeons in Seattle

[Monica]

I live in downtown Seattle and I'm always keeping an eye on the pigeons around me. This afternoon I realized that there were very few pigeons around. The 3rd & Union St Post Office usually has lots of pigeons around and on it. This afternnon I saw none. The International District usually is a center of pigeons milling about. I saw only two despite lots of bread crumbs etc. on the sidewalks. The train station nearby usually has pigeons nestled into its fancy brickwork -- today, no pigeons.

Does anyone know what might be going on?

Monica

[AZWhitefeather]

Originally Posted by Monica

I live in downtown Seattle and I'm always keeping an eye on the pigeons around me. This afternoon I realized that there were very few pigeons around. The 3rd & Union St Post Office usually has lots of pigeons around and on it. This afternnon I saw none. The International District usually is a center of pigeons milling about. I saw only two despite lots of bread crumbs etc. on the sidewalks. The train station nearby usually has pigeons nestled into its fancy brickwork -- today, no pigeons.

Does anyone know what might be going on?

Monica

Hawks perhaps. Just a thought.
I know my backyard flock will stay hidden because of the hawks. I don't see them but the pijjies sure seem to know they're around. Even my inside aviary birds know when something's amiss.

Cindy

[feralpigeon]

It's hard to say, lots of things could be affecting their visibility from weather, to nest sitting, to predator presence, to humans seeking to disperse them. I tend
to think that it may be one of the latter two from what I've noticed of the ferals.

fp

[Monica]

The weather was nice. Not much wind. Cool, but not bitterly cold. I also noticed very few crows, but plenty of seagulls.

Monica

[feralpigeon]

I've seen seagulls go after pigeons and doves, although I've never seen pigeons entirely clear the area for seagulls. I have seen pigeons clear the area for a hawk. 'Course I've also seen crows chase a hawk away. As for the weather, I was thinking something far more drastic like an earthquake or something along those lines. Maybe just keep your eye on it and you'll find the answer to their sparsity.

fp

[TerriB]

Monica, I'm south of Seattle and have noticed a definite decrease in the number of pigeons around here. A lot of businesses are putting up anti-perching spikes and fake owls, and that's just the deterrents that I know of. Makes me very uneasy about releasing the feral in spring.

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by TerriB

Monica, I'm south of Seattle and have noticed a definite decrease in the number of pigeons around here. A lot of businesses are putting up anti-perching spikes and fake owls, and that's just the deterrents that I know of. Makes me very uneasy about releasing the feral in spring.

Hi TerriB,

I can understand your reluctance, perhaps it is good idea to find him another area for release.

[Maggie-NC]

I think they are decreasing everywhere. We've certainly noticed that in our area. There are numerous hawks out and about in our downtown area that contribute to the situation. I talked to a friend last week who came across a dead hawk so they have their problems too. She thought it was a territorial issue with another hawk and this one lost but since his body was in a bus lane, I'm inclined to think it may have hit a bus.


Monica, I did my usual check-in on Izzy yesterday. She was full of it - pulling her nest paper, moving around a lot. What a joy that little bird is.

[Monica]

Yes, Izze has been energetic lately. She has given up on her eggs hatching and is now interested in making more eggs. She sometimes really gets into tugging on her nesting material.

Pigeons seem to be coming back out this morning, but there are still not many about. I see them in one's and two's, not the flocks I'm used to. I don't think the city poisons pigeons in Seattle, but I'm sure sometimes individuals do. Maybe a group of predatory birds have moved into downtown Seattle. Maybe we have a big earthquake coming. I don't know.

Monica

[Feefo]

There have been days when I go into the city centre and see no pigeons where there are usually flocks. Like you, I always the worst.

So far they have returned after a day or two.

Cynthia

[Larry_Cologne]

Monica,

Yes, Izze is uppity! How nice that sounds. And she s so beautiful.

I find it interesting that she still stretches her wings in these isometric - isotonic - yoga-like stretches and poses, even though she doesn't fly. She could possibly be in shape enough to fly some. Does she do any "flying" when you have her out of her cage for exercise?

Also, perhaps a dumb question ... but do you have other pigeons in a cage near her? I thought I saw something -- hard to tell in the small webcam window -- that didn't resemble mirrored movements, or was I perhaps hallucinating? (this was, I think, last week or so.

Regarding the scarce sighting of ferals:

On April 20th, 2005 (our wedding anniversary, why I remember the date) I last saw the sweet male, Footless, of the pigeon pair across the street. He had no feet, yet had several nests over a year or more and raised some youngsters. She was harder to tell apart when he wasn't with her. I would count the days when the nest in the window directly across the street from our window was occupied nonstop, and once when an egg had hatched, and a nestling had died (I could see some remains, and flies buzzing in the sun), I saw him consoling his mate on a window ledge above the nest, for several hours. She would rest her head on his shoulder.

I kept an eye out for him, and on one of the following weekends, on a sunny Sunday, the whole neighborhood seemed deathly still. No pigeons anywhere to be seen, for a day or so. I was suspecting a mass civil poisoning, and thinking of what to write or what I could do. Then I started seeing more of them. Not as many, it seemed, but enough to know that they had gone on siesta or had a convocation somewhere or simply took it easy, not being obligated to put on an appearance for my sake. (This happened after our Pidgiepoo diappeared on January 14th, and I was scrutinizing every pigeon and pigeon-shape I came across).

When I returned last September from a month-long visit in the States to Cologne, the same phenomena occurred: No pigeons to be seen at several of the squares or plazas where they had been without fail every day the past several years. Even my wife noticed the absences, the bird silences. After a week or so they began showing up again, at the regular times and places, but in half the numbers. This was also the time a person killing pigeons at the downtown Catholic cathedral or Dom was nabbed by the police. There is also a falcon or raptor nesting site maintained by the city at one of the towers of that same church.

-- Izze really is super-active rght now. Turning, turning, looking or stretching up out of camera view. It is very touching to watch her. So much PASSION!

Larry

[feralpigeon]

My overpass flock is next to a Kaiser Medical building and they have started
sending over an employee onto city property by the overpass to throw down
tainted seed......like 50 pounds a drop spread in a sea on the tar. It's making me a bit crazy.

fp

[Larry_Cologne]

Monica,

It seems to me that your female Izze is doing some of the male pigeon's courtship routine, rotating and standing tall and bowing.

Feral pigeon,

Would it be practical to get a video of the tainted seed being dispersed, and some of the seed collected? Any protected species feeding on poisoned pigeons woulld also be threatened.

Maybe others have some practical ideas.

Larry

[Monica]

I really hope it's not someone poisoning Seattle pigeons. My husband thinks it is. I tend to doubt it. It is affecting too large an area. If a few predatory birds have moved into downtown Seattle, I'm OK with that. I know some of you might disagree on that last point, but I'm sure all of you are totally against the poisoning.

Anyway, that's Gregory and Esmeralda in the background of the Izze-cam. I've been thinking of giving them their own webcam. They are a fun couple.

BTW I do take Izze out to fly (well "helicopter") every day and sometimes several times a day. I think it feels very good to her to flap her wings.


Monica

[TerriB]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Hi TerriB,
I can understand your reluctance, perhaps it is good idea to find him another area for release.

Yep, that's what I'm thinking!