Curious question, but has anyone ever used their drone to scare pigeons away?
We had a lot of pigeons around our local town centre, and the town council, in their infinite wisdom, brought in some birds of prey to scare some of them away. Trouble is, they didn’t scare them very far, and now we have a lot of the “rats with wings” where we live. 4 Magpies rocked up this year and have reduced the pigeon population a little, but there are still quite a few around and we have no idea how long the magpies will stay.
Getting a bird of prey in is prohibitively expensive, and although I’ve not done it yet, I was wondering if anyone else had ever used their drone to scare pigeons away.
You may run into trouble with the law, depending on exactly how you use your drone to scare the pigeons. Flying in the vicinity in the hope that the propeller noise will make them move somewhere else will be ok no doubt, but probably ineffective (they don’t take any notice of my drone when it’s flying, and sometimes pass by quite close going about their own beaky business), but any overtly agressive flying on your part, especially buzzing nests, might be questionably legit. I would check the legality of whatever action you intend to take before taking it so that at least you can make an informed decision knowing what the possible risks are!
They might fight back. I have seen them mobbing a Buzzard fairly effectively, and a mobbing attack would certainly down your drone if it was pressed home. My own unfortunate experience of this involved seagulls, and they were very determined, continuing the attacks as the drone spiralled into the sea. This was in failing light and I didn’t see the bastards coming until it was too late! The general advice for this sort of attack is to fly directly vertically upwards in sport mode at full power; birds cannot generally fly vertically upwards very effectively, so you can climb to a safe distance and move away from them.
Other methods may be more legal and more effective, and, while they won’t cost as much as employing a raptor with a handler, will still cost a bit for poison, spikes, or equipment. You may be able to shoot them with an airgun, but need a licence to use such a weapon on nuisance animals.
and if you are in certain parts of the country the pigeons are tougher than others… the hawk sometimes gets attacked by the pigeons in Salford… I’ve seen the pigeons flying around my mini 3 pro before… just checking it out so I’m not sure how much of a deterrent they will be… depends on the drone… avata and fpv tend to be more of a deterrent
air rifle works too, and last I checked was still legal (pigeons and magpies and rats only)… provided you shoot them on your property and ensure the pellets don’t leave your property or cross a right of way… magpies get wise to an air rifle from what I’ve heard
When you consider that Pigeons are the most unhygienic and messy of all UK birds, believe it or not they actually carry more diseases than rats!, I think you would be within your rights to shoot them on your property if you had exhausted all non lethal methods to get rid of the winged rats .
Ref: Property owners in England can use GL41 and GL42 licenses to kill feral and wood pigeons on their property only to prevent the spread of diseases or damage to livestock or crops.
Yep agree they are a pain in the arse, I have bird feeders in my garden and they arrive mob handed like thugs. Tip everything out and grovel on the floor. I have got the in the region of 20-30 of the buggers and when they take flight make a tight old racket. I’ve been trying various methods to discourage them without success. I’ve now moved my feeders to front garden in amongst tree branches to make it more difficult for them. I really don’t want their “sh*t everywhere, and they scare the other birds off. However I don’t want to harm them just discourage.
Yes very. And only works as a temporary measure. The factory where I work is very large and open plan inside with a high bay warehouse. Even with rapid doors they can get inside and go and hide and nest in the racking.
Pest control is a huge monthly cost but the packaging we make can be the outside packaging of food so it must be done. We have different hawks that come in regularly, the company has different people and different coloured vans as the pigeons learn vehicles and will simply leave and come back when the van goes. We have to clear areas of the factory regularly and the pest control people bring rifles and shoot them. If the rifle doesnt finish the job then they have special pliers for their necks (its dark).
Our factories in Europe have had success with devices that are basically laser pointers on turrents that respond to motion. The laser annoys the pigeons enough to move them along.
And thats all inside in an enclosed space. So trying to do something outside is going to be quite the undertaking.
To stop pigeons eating the bird food you put out you could try the following:-
Wheat Free Food – Wheat free foods deter pigeons and other larger birds like pheasants, whereas mixes which are seed-dense ensure smaller birds get a chance to eat. Other foods pigeons don’t like include peanuts in the shell, suet and mealworms.
Using Different Feeders – Going for smaller feeders or those with smaller perches will deter pigeons since they can’t get the food easily, this includes squirrel proof feeders which will keep a range of bigger animals away.
Catching Dropped Seed – Seed that has fallen from birdfeeders is the perfect target for pigeons. Catching the falling seed in a container that pigeons will have a hard time accessing or regularly cleaning up dropped seed will remove the easy pickings.
Drones won’t work. Within a couple of flights they figure out the drone is no threat. They may move out of the way by a few feet but will soon move back.
We used to have a guy in our area that was a nuisance feeding them in a local car park. 5 yrs after his death they still congregate at that carpark. I can put my drown down to take off. As i lift dome may lift some won’t but 2 minutes later they are back.
Only use the pellets on the bird table where the winged rats can’t get to them. Have several coconut feeders (as below) stuffed with a suet and mealy worm mix and the pigeons don’t go near them
once pigeons have found an easy sorce of food, the only way to get rid of them is to eat them, put them in the compost bin (not too many at a time though) or remove their source of food. Pigeon is actually quite nice, although I have to say I have never had the manky scutts (town variety).
Don’t knock it till ya tried it mate, Reminds me of when one of my uncles came for sunday dinner, said this chikens really nice, then dad told oh thats the rabbit our mick did yesterday.
we used to breed em for show and table, and we had a good few hens, they were nice too
Here in Derby, I was flying in the city centre earlier this year and a flock of pigeons seemed to take great delight in flying in circles as close to my drone as I get to it when Im landing it. Flying rats as far as Im concerned.
Rabbit, pigeon, pheasant? All good! Especially if you caught/shot it yourself. We’ve become too squeamish and sterile in our plastic wrapped worlds. Paunching/cleaning wabbits is a stinky job, but once cooked it’s worth the effort. Most I shot in one night was 120, got to admit that some got thrown for the foxes and buzzards. But most got fed to rich tourist’s in a friends restaurant as game pie. I got a free meal and my brass replaced
