# Feeding feral pigeons in the time of coronavirus/COVID-19



## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to seek your advice, please. I've befriended a feral flock of city pigeons who live in the roof next door to my rented apartment in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. These birds have been living in the roof next door for longer than I've lived here, & since I moved in, they've tended to visit our balcony occasionally, particularly whenever it rains, when they often congregate here as it's sheltered & close to their home. As my partner & I spend a lot of time on our balcony too, we've developed a friendship with them, after a long, rainy couple of weeks several months ago, which has continued since. 

On a number of occasions, we've caught flock members who were sick &/or injured — we've taken a few to the local vet when they were unwell, & we've helped a number of them whose feet were tangled in hair or string, by cutting them free. Because I'd noticed they had visible pigeon louse flies, & their feathers showed signs of feather lice, & because they were clearly itchy & scratching a lot, I began luring them with food, so I could spray them with a product designed to treat avian ectoparasites. Once I began feeding them though, I've found it difficult to stop — I'm a sucker, & they're really lovely companions, however others are less pleased about their presence, & so I need to change the way I'm doing things.

One of our neighbours has asked that we stop feeding them, something I'm reticent to do in the current situation, as coronavirus/COVID-19 restrictions have left the city centre nearby very quiet, & other chances for food are very limited as a result of this. I've heard of pigeons overseas who are starving as a result of this pandemic & the lack of food available to them, so there's no way I can allow that to happen to my friends while I'm able to help them survive — not on my watch! 

There's a defunct lawn bowls club green that I can see from my balcony, which has been earmarked for development one day but it has yet to be purchased by a developer, therefore it's been sitting vacant & unmaintained for a number of years. The only other option for a feeding location is on the other side of a busy road which, after reading the guide about feeding pigeons on this site, I'm hesitant to consider, as I don't want anyone getting run over while we're trying to lure them to the new location. Basically, I want to try to get food up onto this overgrown lawn bowls green, if I can, so they can eat there, where they're out of the way of people & free from interruption, & far enough away that I won't get into trouble for feeding them. The only issue is, it's 1-storey above street level as it's atop an undercover car-park, & there's no pedestrian access to the green itself, so I ideally need some way I can throw the seed up there from street level somehow. 

I'd initially considered throwing paper bags full of seed, but I don't want to get in trouble for littering if someone whinges, so I then considered making seed balls using suet, peanut butter, or some other fixing agent, as I'd seen online, but I'd ideally like something that would which would disintegrate upon impact so the seed spreads out & they can all eat without crowding on top of each other. Perhaps rice paper or lettuce/cabbage leaves, wrapped around birdseed to form baseball-sized seed bombs, & then secured somehow, would work? That way there won't be any rubbish left over, as there would be with the paper bag idea. What do you think?

I'd love to hear of any other ideas about how I can accomplish this, or tips on what to do generally about my feathered friends. Thank you in advance! 

Cheers,

Fern


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I think your idea of throwing up food to the next level sounds like a good one. Do you have any petshops that's open? If so, try to get a handrearing formula for parrots and parakeets. If you mix some with only a little bit of water, you can make soft balls the consistency of clay. Stuff them full of seeds. I'm not sure if they will break open (maybe if you put a lot of seeds in there) but you can always experiment.

You will need to lure them to the next spot. I would say, wait till they are very hungry. Walk with a bucket of seeds to the new spot, while picking seeds up and let them drop into the bucket again. This might look quite strange to anyone that doesn't know what you are doing. I'm sure the pigeons will follow you.

I've seen on FB there's quite a lot of people feeding the pigeons in the big cities in Europe. Unfortunately, lots of them will starve. Thanks for trying to help your flock.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Thanks, Marina.  I think there are still pet shops open near me, so I'll have a look for the hand-rearing mix you mentioned & which ones are still trading now, & see how I go. 



Marina B said:


> You will need to lure them to the next spot. I would say, wait till they are very hungry. Walk with a bucket of seeds to the new spot, while picking seeds up and let them drop into the bucket again. This might look quite strange to anyone that doesn't know what you are doing. I'm sure the pigeons will follow you.


As for this, my flock always seem very hungry! LOL Actually, my partner walked some of them down the driveway & to the front footpath, then got some of them to go up onto the bowling green this afternoon - he calls himself the Pied Piper of Pigeons. Only some of them went, but still, it's a good start! 

And thank you for the thank you, about looking after them - I couldn't do anything BUT look after them... they're the closest things to pets I have in rented accommodation, & they're such lovely birds, especially once you get to know them a little better.


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## Spencer (Jan 16, 2020)

Excellent Work thank you so much for helping these amazing birds they deserve far greater respect than most people give them what most people aren't aware of Pigeon saved thousands of lives both in the first and Second World War by providing a reliable method of communicating between Allied headquarters when there was no other method available. coded messages would be attached to the birds legs in tiny waterproof cylinders which would then be decoded after the bird had returned to its home loft there is one quite famous tale of a RAF bomber crew returning from a mission over Germany which had to ditch in the North Sea they carried on board a messenger pigeon called winki if memory serves me right they released the bird from their life raft allowing them to get a Communication back to headquarters which saved their life just amazing if memory serves me right this bird was the first animal to receive the Dicken medal awarded by the PDSA for bravery as it was hundreds and hundreds of miles the bird had to fly over the open sea to return home to her loft


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