collared doves/pigeons

[oceanbreeze]

We are really getting fed up with these overfat,ugly collared doves that seem to be interbreeding with wood pigeons. They are getting very bold around our fence flying straight at us then just brushing over our heads, not unlike the notorious seagulls that swoop.
They ignore the cats and dogs, flying off just in the nick of time when chased or pounced on, and they seem to start mulitplying almost straight out of the nest.
Does the council deal with them? Anyone else having a problem?

[sizzla]

We have them around, but ours are rather timid and tend to fly away from us rather than towards us.

[CraftsbyCarolyn]

the cat over the road almost caught one recently in our garden - but was left with a mouthful of feathers...they seem to take over the garden where we are and I much prefer all the other birds.

[oceanbreeze]

Same here Carolyn, the little garden birds are much more fun and easier to live with. So it seems you have rather a lot of the pigeons too.

[SCRABBLER]

I think in this area we are suffering from a surfit of Collared Doves, Rock Doves and Feral Pidgeons. Wood Pidgeons will come into the garden, but normally in bad weather when they can't find anything on farmland. I will agree they are all very difficult to tell apart because they are all mostly the same size. I prefer the Barbary Dove with it's pale feathers and black ring below the head. They usually travel in pairs and are much smaller than the other doves we get in the garden. I find that if I clap my hands, or wave at them thro' the window, they all disappear. They do not come near if I am out in the garden. By the way I had a small band of gold finches in the garden the other day, smashing little birds.

[oceanbreeze]

Nowhere near you in the garden is good, but completely the opposite here, even clapping hands does not get rid of them . The labrador keeps staring at them then lunges/pounces they only move a foot or so away, and as I say just skimng the top of our heads. they are too fat to fly upwards quickly.

[SCRABBLER]

I can recommend Pidgeon Pie. When I was first married I could buy them from the Butchers at 2/6d a time. Slow cooked with all the appropriate veg, they can be quite good eating. So I suppose the moral of the story is, if you can't get rid of them - eat them!!

[CraftsbyCarolyn]

Nowhere near you in the garden is good, but completely the opposite here, even clapping hands does not get rid of them . The labrador keeps staring at them then lunges/pounces they only move a foot or so away, and as I say just skimng the top of our heads. they are too fat to fly upwards quickly.

yep same here...

We had a group of long tailed tits in the garden at the weekend - never seen them before.

[oceanbreeze]

Long tailed tits here too, love their twittering song. We have wrens, goldfinches, robins and occasionally a thrush or two. The heron makes a daily flight across the back of the garden and is sometimes perched on a roof just across the way.Loads of jackdaws, they love the chimney pots!