Wood Pigeons- I have a feeder on a juliet balcony and the Blue tits and Robins have been visiting. It has also got the attention of Wood Pigeons and I let them feed but they have become a nuisance crashing into small birds, trampling on my flowers and wolfing down the food. Recently I have been walking near the window when they arrive to deter them as the small birds don't get a chance. I wanted to let them have some food as they are calm birds, but they are quite problematic and draw attention to the feeder which I am not sure is allowed.
This morning one brought a stick up and then shortly after another stick. Is it trying to nest in my hanging basket or just bringing a peace offering in exchange for food?
I live in an apartment block and I think the nest would get me in trouble and I'd be asked to remove the feeder.
Should I remove the sticks or see what happens? I was considering removing this particular hanging basket as it has become a landing zone for the Pigeons.
It is illegal to disturb their nest while in use with a few exceptions listed on this website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wild-birds-protection-surveys-and-licence .
i am assuming removing the basket they’re building a nest in would constitute as this as well. Once they’ve finished with the nest I THINK it can be removed but not before unless you get permissions to do it EG. for air safety like it says here. Pigeon nests do kind of look like a mess of sticks. I know people who own feral pigeons give them shredded paper and things to help them make nests so I recon it would be ok to put out some shredded strips of brown paper out for them if they won’t get wetto see if they’d like to use it, it could be fun to watch
from what I’ve seen they’re VERY poopy, so I’d put down something thatgget thrown out to save you cleaning it up
If your landlord has an issue with it, explain the law and offer to clean up the mess once they’re finished. You can take down a bird feeder any time, but it might mean that the pigeons don’t get enough food
I’m not an expert but I just know nest disturbance is typically illegal
Thanks, I know that. But what I'm not clear on is if one twig counts as a nest? It brought a single twig up when coming for food and another shortly after, but there's no eggs etc. It's frequented by magpies too so the eggs would get stolen straight away!
It has not brought anymore but it gets scared when it sees me near the window and I tend to work near there.
I’d say if there’s a possibility that it’s starting to build a nest to just leave it, as it’ll be hard to tell until it’s fully built and it’s not worth risking. Even if the eggs get stolen, it’s still an important part of the circle of life and nature so leaving it will be good because the magpies will get a meal etc, and sometimes bird re lay eggs if the first batch gets lost