Comments on: RSPB Birds of Prey Campaign Interview

By: Wablake

Wablake — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:19:00 +0000

I agree with what you say and know of a pigeon breeder in USA who only breeds from raptor savvy stock.

by the way there is an ie in your use of their. call it a draw
” eliminate there food supply,”

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:08:00 +0000

A gamekeeper cooped a live pigeon in a trap for birds of prey on National Trust land, deliberately breaking wildlife protection laws, a court has been told.

Glenn Brown, who has appeared in a tourism podcast promoting grouse shooting, was caught on undercover film recorded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, magistrates in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, heard.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/12/gamekeeper-live-pigeon-trap

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Are birds of prey back?nThis BBC article from 4th March 2011 examines the current situation regarding of the UK’s birds of prey populationnhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12634698

By: Freddy Phillips

Freddy Phillips — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:15:55 +0000

Sorry to read of the loss of your pigeons Michael obviously this must colour your views on birds of prey (incidentally,they are “raptors” not “raptures” the latter being entirely worthy!- Never mind, I always want to put a “d” in “pigeon”). Given that prey species control the numbers of species preying on them there is little likelihood that hawks or owls will ever eliminate there food supply, in fact as Charles Darwin described the process of survival of the fittest the raptors are ensuring that the pigeon gene pool is constantly improving – which helps you to win your races. Of course the hawks get better as well which goes to show the whole thing is part of the natural order of things. Not much consolation though, I can see that.

By: Michael Penn

Michael Penn — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:19:22 +0000

What A load of BS!!!
I Lost 5 pigeons recently; all of them were seen being attacked and hunted down by hawks, probably migrating through the area. All the pigeon fanciers I have spoken to say the same thing – rapture numbers are exploding! Just what in the food chain controls the raptures now that there is this pop cultural love affair over birds of prey? I, today, seen a damn hawk hunt down and chew apart my prize pigeon, even with me running to chase it away – not a pleasant sight I can assure you! They are growing so bold that not even humans scare them any more! Why is it that birds of prey are more valuable and worthy of our protection than other species – like my pigeons???? I guess when the numbers finally explode to the point where there are no more other birds or small mammals left then people will wonder if excessive protection of raptures was not such a good idea after all. Now I guess I just have to cage my pigeons up if I don’t want to lose anymore but don’t give me any more BS about the damn birds of prey. If you love them so much cage them up to preserve them like we have to do with our pigeons. The Only Good Rapture Is A Dead Rapture!

By: Gareth

Gareth — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:21:28 +0000

Thanks for your question Sam. We have contacted John Loder, who has replied as followed:

Let’s look at some more down-to-earth facts: three independent studies into the reasons why racing pigeons fail to return to lofts concluded that the numbers taken by birds of prey are small compared to other causes. An estimated 86% of the pigeons lost each year fail to return for reasons other than predation by birds of prey.
Pigeons fail to return to their lofts for a variety of reasons. A UK wide study by the Government’s UK Raptor Working Group found that:

* straying and exhaustion accounted for 36% of losses
* collisions with solid objects like buildings and windows – 19%
* collisions with overhead wires – 15%
* predation by birds of prey – 14%
* shooting, entanglement in netting, poisoning and oiling – 8%
* predation by mammals, including domestic cats – 8%

An average loft in the UK houses 73 racing pigeons – the research indicates that a typical owner will lose 38 pigeons each year. Of these, just over five would be killed by sparrowhawks and peregrines while 14 will have strayed, gone feral or died of starvation and exhaustion; seven will have died in a collision, six will have hit overhead wires; three will have been shot, poisoned or oiled, and three will have been eaten by a mammal.
Straying accounts for the highest losses in racing pigeons and more needs to be done to understand the causes for this. Of those pigeons that were taken by birds of prey, a significant number of them had already strayed from their lofts and become feral before they were killed.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:07:00 +0000

Can you comment on the recent Daily Mirror report that the Royal Pigeon Racing Association claims that up to 270,000 pigeons and songbirds are killed each day by peregrines and sparrowhawks, which suggests that bird of prey populations are healthy and there is no need to protect them?