Will flock of pigeons starve when feeding abruptly stops?

Question

Please can anyone offer me some advice/reassurance on the following matter?

I’ve been feeding a fairly large flock of pigeons (about 30) on our shed roof for the last 5 years or so, they come every day and I feed them in the morning and at teatime and sometimes a bit extra in between. I knew some of the neighbours in my row were not overly fond of them but they’d never made a complaint until recently, when I was approached by two neighbours who demanded I stop feeding them as they were tired of their cooing and flying over their gardens. I told them it wasn’t illegal to feed them and ignored them.
A week ago I received a letter from the local council telling me they’d received a complaint and requested I stop feeding the pigeons immediately, obviously the neighbours had reported me. I was very upset but knew that if I was to persist in feeding them it would lead to more trouble with the council and neighbours, so I had no alternative but to stop feeding them.
Today is the seventh day I haven’t fed them and the flock have been sitting on my roof most of the day, right up until 7.30pm at night, waiting to be fed. They are even flying down into my garden and sitting on my living room windowsill looking in at me, something they've never done before. I’m totally heartbroken and distressed and can’t bear to see them looking down at me, in fact I'm avoiding going into my back garden as it's causing me upset to see them there.
I’m worried sick they will starve as I don’t know where else they will go for food, they've been so reliant on me feeding them for so long, it's such a stressful situation and it's cutting me up to see them.
I'm sure a gradual reduction in feeding would have been the best option, but the council won't go for that.
How long will it take before they eventually get the message the food has stopped and fly off and are they likely to starve due to the cessation of their regular food supply?
Any help or advice will be gratefully received.

HAZY · Answer

Hello Gillian, I'm sorry to hear about the trouble with the neighbours regarding your feeding of pigeons and although I completely understand the pleasure it brings you, it can bring problems as numbers of pigeons build up. You have no need to worry about them starving as pigeons, like most other birds, are very resourceful and will eventually cotton on to the fact that there is no easy food anymore and they will find food elsewhere either at other feeders or feeding on discarded scraps or on natures own food supply. If there were one or two birds I'm sure it would have been fine to keep feeding them and there would be little or no complaints but with pigeons the flocks will grow when there is a reliable source of food and then it can bring problems with noise, mess and on occasion vermin. It will be natural for the pigeons to hang around a while as it is their habit at the moment but they will find other foods as birds have a keen eye and communication skills to spot food. Meanwhile, I hope you can perhaps continue to enjoy watching birds in your local area and parks. So, please don't worry the pigeons will starve, I can guarantee they won't ! Just takes time for them to adjust to non feeding regime and they'll head off elsewhere.

GillianH-501653478 · Answer

Hello Hazel, 
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post; I've been feeling quite poorly from with upset of not being able to feed the pigeons. 
I am so very relieved to know they won't starve (as I was told would happen by a local pigeon fancier), it's so hard to see them hanging around waiting to be fed,, but if I know they'll eventually give up I can cope with it. I'm not quite sure where they'll go for food; I was going to try to feed them elsewhere but I don't know where they go to roost, as that would have been ideal. They were here until 7.45pm this evening bless them. 
Thanks again for your help and reassurance, I very much appreciate it. 
 
Take care, 
Gill

monkeycheese · Answer

Ferals will usually find a new food source. You could try putting seed down in the other park. Maybe do it first thing in the morning so as not to attract too much attention. Pidges will sometimes go from flock to flock if they are local, mine certainly do.

Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos

(One bush does not shelter two Robins)

Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)

Seaman · Answer

Sorry to hear that you have had to stop feeding your birds, many people get a lot of pleasure from watching them. We do need to remember these are wild birds and at this time of year with plenty of wild food, they are quite capable of finding their own food.

Pete

Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

Sheena · Answer

I am in a similar predicament. Two white doves befriended us in our garden, asking for food. After a year, we now have 10 nesting under the solar panels, and walking all over them too. The first pair got mites initially, and I was able to cure them with mite dust in their water. They sat in it for a week, went away, and are healthy now. The trouble is, they told all their friends, and now I have been banned from feeding them. 
They are so intelligent and sweet, I have pulled all the blinds down and dare not go in the garden. 
To make matters worse, there is a fledgling that can only just fly up to the roof. 
 
If I put food out secretly, my husband gets woken up by them cooing and fluttering up and down so there is no halfway solution here. 
They do fly off for the day sometimes, where I know not. 
There have been three eggs that have rolled off the roof, so I know they are nesting. 
Please, if you have had this problem a while ago, how long did it take for them to leave? We cannot have a loft of these birds here. 
It breaks my heart too . Any advice welcomed.