Pigeons
Today a baby pigeon was brought in to WRC. Every winter we get a few young pigeons in to the Center, but it always seems odd to see such a young bird in the middle of winter. Pigeons are the only birds that will breed all year round, even during our harsh Minnesota winters. They do this by being well-adapted to living in cities and around humans, using them to find shelter and sources of food. Because of this, pigeons are often seen as a nuisance to some people.
In attempts to control pigeon populations some people opt to use a substance called Avitrol. Avitrol is a toxin that may be placed in seeds that pigeons and other birds eat. It will normally cause one or two birds to start having seizures and showing other neurological signs. Since pigeons often flock together, the other birds in the group will see the ones acting strange and fly away. However, the birds that have already been affected continue to suffer from the poison and will oftentimes die.
When we see a bird that is acting as though it has ingested Avitrol, we immediately administer a medication to stop the seizures and give an oral medication called Activated Charcoal to “soak up” the toxin like a sponge so that it can pass through the bird without being absorbed into its system. Sometimes birds will recover from this, sometimes they aren’t able to. Over the last two weeks, several birds have come to WRC showing signs of having this poison in their systems. Once they make it through the early stages of Avitrol poisoning, they begin to act like normal birds again and recovery is quick.
Even though pigeons sometimes have a bad reputation as being pests, I thoroughly enjoy working with them. They have their own personalities and are very pretty with iridescent feathers that shine with different colors in the light. Also, there is no greater feeling than helping an animal, even a pigeon, that would not have survived without our care.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
I wish the people who “hate” pigeons could work with them and find out what lovely birds they really are. They have the sweetest personalities and the babies are adorably homely.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:43 am
I would like to add that this poison can effect other animals besides pigeons within the same eco-system such as raptors and any carnivores that dine on pigeons. It is just not a viable solution to any “problem”.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
One way to deal with unwanted pigeon populations and to find a way for people in cities to live in harmony with such successful birds is to create community pigeon lofts (Some cities design these as public art and people enjoy watching the birds come and go to their nests.) When eggs are laid, the city comes in and removes them, thus keeping the pigeon population from getting too large and hopefully keeping those that would poison them from doing so.
I personally love pigeons! An interesting fact about these birds is that medals were awarded to many of them during WWII.