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Tampa Bay
has many species of birds, native
and non-native.
Most pest birds
are non-native like pigeons.
Pigeons can roost
on your home or business and deposit
huge amounts of unsightly droppings
on your home or
business that
are full of disease.
Native birds
such as pelicans and Vultures
can do the same.
Native birds like
Hawks stuck inside a building
can be caught and released.
Non-native birds
can be humanely
trapped and removed and exclusion
and deterrent devices can be installed
so they don't return. Bird damage
also requires extensive cleanup.
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down. Work can be performed after
hours and your problem resolved
without the customers ever knowing
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Excerpt
from a great publication:
Pigeons
William H. Kern, Jr.
The pigeons or rock doves (Columba
livia) found in North America
are the feral offspring of pigeons
brought to this continent by European
immigrants. Pigeons are domesticated
animals raised for sport racing,
show and for food (squab). The
ancestors of the pigeons we see
in our cities and on our farms
escaped from captivity and found
a favorable environment living
with humans. Feral pigeons now
have a cosmopolitan distribution,
having become established every
place humans have built cities.Description
The feral pigeons found
in Florida and North America are
extremely variable in coloration.
They exhibit the full range of
coloration that domestication
and selective breeding have produced.
All pigeons that were developed
from rock doves have a white rump,
usually a white diamond-shaped
patch just above the tail feathers.
In white birds the white rump
blends with the general body color.
Many pigeons have retained the
ancestral rock dove coloration:
gray body, darker gray head and
neck, white rump, dark band on
the end of the tail, dark wing
tips, and two black stripes running
along the back edge of each wing.
The total length is around 11-13
inches (28-33 cm). Range
and Habitat The pigeon
is found throughout Florida, congregating
in urban, suburban, and rural
agricultural areas. It is hard
to know the range of the ancestral
rock dove because feral pigeons
are so widely distributed, but
they are believed to naturally
occur in southern Europe, the
middle east and north Africa.
Rock doves nest on protected cliffs
and inside the mouths of caves.
Human cities are made of artificial
cliffs (buildings) and caves (attics,
abandoned buildings, open warehouses)
so these pigeons feel at home
and flourish.Food and
Food Sources Pigeons
feed primarily on seeds and grain,
but in urban areas they also eat
human food scraps like bread crumbs,
etc. Bird feeders provide a primary
food source for pigeons in urban
and suburban areas. Pigeons are
especially fond of cracked corn
and sorghum or milo seeds in general
bird seed mixes. In agricultural
areas pigeons eat or contaminate
large amounts of livestock feed.
Pigeons are not picky about their
food: they are often seen picking
undigested seeds from the feces
of livestock.Reproduction
Pigeons breed year round in Florida.
The nests are simple platforms
of sticks built in sheltered locations
on horizontal ledges. Pigeons
commonly nest on man-made structures;
window ledges, balconies, under
bridges, in barns and open warehouses,
on or behind signs, and in soffits
and attics of houses. They enter
attics through missing soffit
panels or attic vents. A clutch
normally consists of 1 or 2 eggs.
The incubation period is 16-18
days and fledglings leave the
nest at 4-6 weeks of age. Adult
pigeons feed their babies a material
secreted by their crops called
"Pigeon's milk".Problems
and Solutions Aesthetic and Economic
Problems Pigeon droppings
deface many urban buildings, monuments,
and public spaces. The uric acid
(white material) in their droppings
is not just unsightly; it can
damage the finish on buildings,
automobiles, etc.. When birds
occupy warehouses and defecate
on stored goods, this creates
an expensive problem for the warehouse
management when their customers
(retailers) refuse to accept contaminated
goods.Health-Related Problems
The most common problem
associated with feral pigeons
nesting in buildings is bird mites
invading the human occupied space
during or after the nesting season.
Bird mites, like northern fowl
mite and tropical fowl mite, will
bite humans and cause a small
pustule, similar to a chigger
bite. Pigeons are also important
reservoirs and vectors of reintroduction
of fowl mites into previously
treated poultry houses. Pigeon
nests canalso be a source of stick-tight
fleas, soft ticks, bed bugs, and
dermestid (carpet) beetles invading
buildings. Pigeons have been long
associated with disease organisms
transmissible to humans and livestock.
These include: 13 bacterial diseases
including salmonellosis ( Salmonella
food poisoning), fowl typhoid,
paratyphoid, pasteurellosis ,
streptococcosis , and tuberculosis
; five fungal diseases including
aspergillosis, blastomycosis and
histoplasmosis ; six protozoan
diseases including toxoplasmosis
and coccidiosis; chlamydiosis
; the rickettsial disease Q Fever;
eight viral diseases including
eastern equine and St. Louis encephalitis,
Newcastle disease and fowl pox
of poultry; the tapeworms in the
genus Taenia, Davainea proglottina,
and Railletina tetragona ; four
genera of parasitic nematodes
of poultry including Tetramares
(2 sp.), Capillaria (5 sp.), and
Acuaria spiralis ; and 14 parasitic
flukes of poultry, livestock,
and humans.Pigeons are generally
a more serious disease vector
to livestock, especially poultry
and egg producers, than to humans.
Still, the presence of pigeons
where food is prepared or people
eat-such as picnic areas and outdoor
restaurants-should be a cause
for concern about the spread of
Salmonella bacteria.Control
Exclusion Exclusion is
always the best option to a nuisance
wildlife situation. Exclusion
will also prevent most situations
from developing.Make sure all
attic and soffit vents are properly
screened to keep birds and other
animals out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes
1. This document is Fact Sheet
SS-WEC-117 (UW117), one of a series
of the Department of Wildlife
Ecology & Conservation, Florida
Cooperative Extension Service,
Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences, University of Florida.
Originally published in cooperation
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission's Nongame
Wildlife Program. Publication
date: October, 1996. Revised:
August 200. Please visit the Edis
Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
2. William H. Kern, Jr., Ph. D.,
associate professor, Department
of Entomology and Nematology,
Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education
Center, Davie, FL 33314, Cooperative
Extension Service, Institute of
Food and Agricultural Sciences,
University of Florida, Gainesville,
32611.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright
Information
This document is copyrighted by
the University of Florida, Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences
(UF/IFAS) for the people of the
State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains
all rights under all conventions,
but permits free reproduction
by all agents and offices of the
Cooperative Extension Service
and the people of the State of
Florida. Permission is granted
to others to use these materials
in part or in full for educational
purposes, provided that full credit
is given to the UF/IFAS, citing
the publication, its source, and
date of publication.
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