CASPER PIGEON PROJECT UPDATE

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CASPER PIGEON PROJECT UPDATE

• Michael J. Pipas
• Wildlife Disease Biologist
• USDA Wildlife Services
• May 13, 2008

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FERAL PIGEON or ROCK DOVEColumba livia
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PIGEON BIOLOGY

• Commensal and gregarious
• Adult natural mortality rate approximately 33
• Life expectancy of 2.4 years
• May achieve sexual maturity at 7 months
• Monogamous (mate for life)
• Only 1/3 of population actually attempts to breed
  
• Breeding occurs year round, with seasonal peaks

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PIGEON BIOLOGYREPRODUCTION

• 1-2 eggs per clutch average of 69 of eggs
  hatch
• Incubation period 18 days
• High nest site fidelity
• Established pair can lay another clutch of eggs
  when first brood is about 20 days old

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PIGEON BIOLOGYREPRODUCTION

• About 25 days from hatching to fledging
• Of hatchlings, 76 fledge (or 52 of total eggs
  laid)
• About 30 of population consists of juveniles
• Juvenile mortality43

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PIGEON BIOLOGYREPRODUCTION

• With overlapping cycles, one pair can potentially
  produce 9-10 broods per year (if all eggs hatch)
• Each breeding pair actually produces 6-11 young
  per year
• If allowance is made for non-breeding
  individuals, 1.2 young fledge per pair per year

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WHATS THE PROBLEM?
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Depth of pigeon feces
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ZOONOTIC DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH PIGEONS

• BACTERIAL 14 Yersiniosis, Salmonellosis
• MYCOTIC (FUNGAL) 5 Candidiasis, Histoplasmosis
• PROTOZOAL 6 Trypanosomiasis, Toxoplasmosis
• RICKETTSIAL/ 3 Chlamydiosis, Q Fever
• VIRAL 8 Western Equine Encephalitis,
  Newcastle disease
• PARASITIC (CESTODES) 3 Taeniasis
• PARASITIC (NEMATODES) 4 NO ZOONOTIC DISEASES
• PARASITIC (TREMATODES) 14 Schistosomiasis
• PARASITIC (MITES) 1 Acariasis
• 54 ZOONOTIC DISEASES TRANSMITTED BY PIGEONS!!

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METHODS TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM

• NONLETHAL Techniques
• LETHAL Techniques

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NONLETHAL Techniques

• Exclusion
• Frightening Devices
• Reproductive Inhibition

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NONLETHAL Techniques Exclusion

• Netting/wire grids
• Roosting deterrents
• Boarding up abandoned buildings

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Netting
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Roosting Deterrents
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Roosting Deterrents
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Roosting Deterrents

• Repellent gel
• Repels variety of birds by combination of smell,
  taste, touch
• Environmentally friendly (made of food grade
  ingredients) easy to apply and remove
• Very durable (will not evaporate, melt or freeze)

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Roosting DeterrentsCombinations
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Boarding up Buildings
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NONLETHAL Techniques Frightening Devices

• Visual
• Auditory

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Frightening Devices Visual
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Frightening Devices Visual
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Frightening Devices Visual
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Frightening Devices Auditory
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Exclusion Some Examples
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NONLETHAL Techniques Reproductive Inhibition
(Ovocontrol P)

• Pelleted feed designed to impact hatchability of
  pigeon eggs
• Active ingredient is nicarbizin
• Registered by EPA in Spring 2007
• No risk of secondary hazards to raptors (birds
  MUST consume bait) nearly negligible risk to
  mammals

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NONLETHAL Techniques Reproductive Inhibition
(Ovocontrol P)

• Bait must be consumed for several consecutive
  days (5 grams/day) to have desired effects on egg
  production
• Reversible (when level in blood falls below half
  of peak value, effect on subsequent egg
  production is virtually nil)
• No overdosing effects
• Bait can be dispersed manually (by hand) or via
  automated feeders
• Cost estimate about 8.50 per day to treat 100
  pigeons

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LETHAL Techniques

• Trapping/Euthanasia
• Hand capture/Euthanasia
• Shooting
• Avicides (e.g., pesticides)

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Trapping/Euthanasia
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Trapping/Euthanasia
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Hand Capture/Euthanasia
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Banding Project
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Banding ProjectWinter 2005-2006

• Attached leg bands to 30 pigeons at 7 sites
  across town
• 57 recaptures of banded birds (20 individual
  birds)
• Recapture frequency ranged from 1-21 (most
  pigeons recaptured once or twice)
• Nearly 100 site fidelity!

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Shooting
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AvicidesDRC-1339
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Pigeon Take By Year(Through May 13, 2008)
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Barriers to Solving the Problem

• Prolific nature (high reproductive potential)
• Dispersion and inaccessibility
• Backyard feeding

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Backyard Feeding
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Backyard Feeding357 pigeons!
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100 of 30 pigeon crops examined contained
anthropogenic food sources
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QUESTIONS?