missing pigeon and doves

lizm

I had a stray racing pigeon (uk ring number, tried finding owner) land in my garden last year, he didnt make any sign of leaving so we fed him and he stayed for 14months, never really venturing far from our garden (roof of house and neighbours house, garden shed roof) most of the time he sat on our garden wall and we fed him, we also then when the weather changed made him a little house that he could come and go freely. we have bird feeders out and noticed over the last few weeks that 2 doves were hanging around and feeding from them, they didnt bother the pigeon nor he them. 2 weeks ago we noticed that our pigeon was gone and the doves seem to be gone too. There are a lot of trees around my garden so i'm wondering would anyone have an idea as to what might have happened. I spoke to someone today who was telling me about a bird of prey which grabbed a dove from her back garden over the weekend. It got me thinking , would a bird have maybe scared off the pigeon and doves or maybe have got my pigeon. I'm just trying to figure out how all 3 have disappeared at the same time? more so i'm wondering about my pigeon!!!!

kildare.17hmr

could well have been a bird of pray if there are some in the area, what area do you live in? There also would be a bit of pigeon shooting going on this time of year with the ripe crops and crops being cut the pigeons would be out in force eating as much as they could and farmers and hunters would be tackling the problem. Another possibility is he decided it was time to make the journey home to the UK which would be my main guess

lizm

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

could well have been a bird of pray if there are some in the area, what area do you live in? There also would be a bit of pigeon shooting going on this time of year with the ripe crops and crops being cut the pigeons would be out in force eating as much as they could and farmers and hunters would be tackling the problem. Another possibility is he decided it was time to make the journey home to the UK which would be my main guess

Well i live in dublin suburbs so i cant imagine he was shot down. the bird of prey which killed a dove happened in the clondalkin area which isnt far from where i am. would he go home after almost a year and a half away????

star-pants

lizm if you wish I could move this thread to the 'Nature & Birdwatching' as they might know more about migration/bird movements, or you could wait a while and see if any one else here has any ideas.

kildare.17hmr

lizm wrote: »

Well i live in dublin suburbs so i cant imagine he was shot down. the bird of prey which killed a dove happened in the clondalkin area which isnt far from where i am. would he go home after almost a year and a half away????

i have heard of pigeons staying anything from a few days to months and just up and leave one day.

lizm

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

i have heard of pigeons staying anything from a few days to months and just up and leave one day.

Thanks for your opinion and insight, much appreciated.

Rachiee

little off topic but I was walking by East Timor park by Liffey Gaels and there were two beautiful pidgeons dead beside eachother in the grass by the wall. It really upset me they were ringed and had been clearly well cared for couldnt understand what had happened as they were right beside eachother and didnt show any injuries I figured someone had killed them and left them there but for the life of me couldnt understand why.

lizm

Rachiee wrote: »

little off topic but I was walking by East Timor park by Liffey Gaels and there were two beautiful pidgeons dead beside eachother in the grass by the wall. It really upset me they were ringed and had been clearly well cared for couldnt understand what had happened as they were right beside eachother and didnt show any injuries I figured someone had killed them and left them there but for the life of me couldnt understand why.

Sad to see them just discarded like that, you wouldn't know if someone maliciously caught and killed them or if they were poisoned or maybe just bad racers and of no use to owner anymore.

Discodog

Racing pigeons/homing pigeons are a fickle lot. I have had several over the years that turn up, consume lots of food & then eventually leave. I suspect that they have this conflict between staying & getting fat or going home.

In reality you will never know what happened. It could be a bird of prey or another predator, like a cat. Or they could of just left.

Mothman

Could easily be a Sparrowhawk which would be the bird of prey and if it got one then likely to visit again.

But as others have alluded to, there may be other reasons. Perhaps it went looking for a mate

lizm

Mothman wrote: »

Could easily be a Sparrowhawk which would be the bird of prey and if it got one then likely to visit again.

But as others have alluded to, there may be other reasons. Perhaps it went looking for a mate

You know, i didn't even think of that and i should have as i always felt sorry for him/her that it was on its own, wondering if it would look for a mate.
Well hopefuully thats what happened, i'd hate to think that someone or something killed it.:(