Great read. Woodies are a daily feature at Burhinus HQ, feeding, drinking, bathing, loving and fighting. In fact everything you noted. Currently we have one singing right outside our bedroom window at about 5 in the morning.
I once watched one eat 17 acorns in one feeding session. That was quite a crop full!
We basically live with wood pigeons now, sharing our garden with them. Their crappy nests are all over the place and we’ve watched them raise several chicks already this year. Every few months we find their broken eggs, which have fallen from their inadequate nests. They drive our pug crazy!
Oh your poor pug 🙈 the chicks are especially annoying to my dog as they flap around on the fence like they might fall off (and into his mouth) but they never quite do!
That sent me down a rabbit hole of reading about crop milk and I hope its the most disgusting thing I read all week or something seriously bad has happened. Great article as always!
We frequently watch our wood pigeon's love life on the telephone wire alongside our house, often involving two suitors. Rather amusing! I also liked seeing the word 'Culver' for the wood pigeon, did you know the Old English word for pigeon was 'Culfre'? I just love how these ancient words survive in our language.
They are a bit of a pest in arable country, I’m afraid, with all sorts of devices used to deter than, usually to little effect. I’ve come to find them quite annoying, not least for the prolonged territorial battles that take place on my roof and in my garden while I’m trying to work!
Yes I live next to the fields and the bird scarers get louder and more frequent every year. They seem to be more effective at scaring dogs than pigeons!
Isn’t it interesting how it’s such an enduring problem? We have created and solved so many other problems over the past decades, but birds just will not be stopped!
Interesting read. Thank you for sharing. I took a close-up picture of one in a park and was wondered if something was wrong with its eyes as the pupil almost looked like it had melted. Mystery solved!
Great read. Woodies are a daily feature at Burhinus HQ, feeding, drinking, bathing, loving and fighting. In fact everything you noted. Currently we have one singing right outside our bedroom window at about 5 in the morning.
I once watched one eat 17 acorns in one feeding session. That was quite a crop full!
Seventeen acorns 😂 I can’t even imagine where they all went! I love that you counted though. They’re so much fun to watch.
I am sure if I ate that many I would have tummy ache.
I once heard wood pigeons’ song described as “My toe hurts, Betty” and now that’s all I can hear whenever they’re around. Which is a lot.
I heard ‘take two cows, teddy’ and yep… same!
Who are Teddy and Betty, and why do the wood pigeons think they’re so interested in their lives?
And how did pigeons gain ownership of cows?
This was a great read. Thank you!
We basically live with wood pigeons now, sharing our garden with them. Their crappy nests are all over the place and we’ve watched them raise several chicks already this year. Every few months we find their broken eggs, which have fallen from their inadequate nests. They drive our pug crazy!
Oh your poor pug 🙈 the chicks are especially annoying to my dog as they flap around on the fence like they might fall off (and into his mouth) but they never quite do!
He wages war against them. They mock him. 😆
That sent me down a rabbit hole of reading about crop milk and I hope its the most disgusting thing I read all week or something seriously bad has happened. Great article as always!
Aww I thought it was kinda cute! Although admittedly I didn’t read too much about the details. Perhaps for the best?!
We frequently watch our wood pigeon's love life on the telephone wire alongside our house, often involving two suitors. Rather amusing! I also liked seeing the word 'Culver' for the wood pigeon, did you know the Old English word for pigeon was 'Culfre'? I just love how these ancient words survive in our language.
Ahh I did wonder - about all their names, actually. Such a wide range of words.
I had a lovely fat pair of pigeon visitors that I named after soap opera characters thanks to their constant drama. They are endlessly endearing.
Endlessly endearing and amusing! When we sit with a drink in our alcove in the evening, they are better entertainment than any tv program 😄
They are a bit of a pest in arable country, I’m afraid, with all sorts of devices used to deter than, usually to little effect. I’ve come to find them quite annoying, not least for the prolonged territorial battles that take place on my roof and in my garden while I’m trying to work!
Yes I live next to the fields and the bird scarers get louder and more frequent every year. They seem to be more effective at scaring dogs than pigeons!
I’ve watched the woodies and rooks and they just take off and then settle again. Rubbish. And yes, terrible for doggos.
Isn’t it interesting how it’s such an enduring problem? We have created and solved so many other problems over the past decades, but birds just will not be stopped!
Well, some! Others we seem to have stopped quite effectively 😔
Interesting read. Thank you for sharing. I took a close-up picture of one in a park and was wondered if something was wrong with its eyes as the pupil almost looked like it had melted. Mystery solved!