As I have mentioned in previous posts, the most common birds we see in our garden are the sparrows. They’re a rowdy bunch and it’s difficult, at times, for the other birds to get a look in, although the woodpecker holds its own when it comes to defending the suet.
I’m always happy to see something other than a sparrow in the garden but there is one bird that is not welcome and that is the pigeon. One or two I can take, but as the Immortal Bard once wrote, “They come not single spies, but in battalions.” They’re greedy and messy and are difficult to get rid of once they make themselves at home. There are a flock of about twenty or more that have so far given our place a miss. Someone on the next street apparently encourages them. But they must have been away for a while because the pigeons decided to drop in unannounced the other day.
I knocked on the window and yelled, “Clear off!” but they just ignored me so I ran out there a couple of times and chased them away. They would circle around and thud back down on the roof, glaring at me. It seems the only way to discourage them is to remove the food completely. It appears to have worked, for now. I would much rather have a score of sparrows scrapping over the seed than a preponderance of pigeons pooping on the patio.
The Nature of Things 
It is annoying when flocks of larger birds invade your small bird seed scene. We occasionally suffer from jackdaws.
Thankfully this is only the second time in about 30 years that we’ve been invaded by pigeons so I’m hoping it was just a fleeting visit.
Great photo’s, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Erik!
So funny to see this post Sue. I just put one up about the birds in my yard, although no actual pictures here! You have pigeons. I have starlings.
Yes, I had to laugh when I read that. I think I only saw one starling in our garden this year, but plenty of squirrels. We currently have 5 that are regular visitors.
The starling situation was odd. I had been thinking about them recently just because they were so obviously around last winter and I hadn’t seen a single one. Then suddenly I looked outside and they were everywhere! I think they read my mind. Yikes!
“preponderance of pigeons pooping on the patio.” Love that, Sue. We are as one on our dislike of pigeons. We have them here in Arizona disguised as mourning doves. 😉. When the girls were young, we had a bird feeder as well as suet cakes. I loved the woodpeckers too. Of course the real fight was keeping the squirrels away.
Lovely photos.
Thanks, Janet! We get the occasional mourning doves, usually in pairs but they’re quite mild-mannered compared to the pigeons. The squirrels and I have reached a compromise. They’ve agreed to leave the bird feeders alone if I put some food on the ground for them. So far, so good.
Lovely photos. 🙂 Juncos, House finches and nuthatches are frequent winter visitors but not the pigeons.
Thank you, Lynette! Thankfully the pigeons rarely show up.
We have the same problem in London that some people feed pigeons when they really do not need feeding.
I remember seeing the pigeons in London. With my fear of birds, they were definitely something I always tried to avoid.
Beautiful pictures of the birds. I think the sparrows’ population is declining and good that have you have a bunch of them🙂
Lovely photos of your garden visitors…all of them! We all know what that sparrow is saying to the woodpecker…not polite!
Thank you! Yes, the sparrows can be quite feisty at times.
Hooray for the woodpecker. 😊
Yes! I’m glad he manages to get his share at mealtimes.
I’m with you on the pigeons. Vile, dumb things in the bird world. You gotta admire the scrappy tenaciousness of sparrows. Hopefully your little friends will be able to return soon.
The pigeons didn’t stay around long, once the food supply stopped and thankfully didn’t return once I started filling the feeders up again, so everything is back to normal.
That’s good news. Those opportunists can quickly become nuisances.
Beautiful captures 👍👍
Thank you so much for visiting!
The sweetest site
Thank you for stopping by!
They are happy in you garden. Wonderful captures, Sue.
Thank you, Amy! As long as I keep feeding them, they’re my friends.
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Thank you for visiting!
Great picture we don’t have any come to the garden was once a common sight
Thank you for visiting. I think the sparrows must all be coming here. We have plenty of them.
Very nice shots! We don’t see many sparrows either, maybe one or two occasionally. In the winter, we see a lot of Juncos which are another kind of sparrow.
Thank you so much! We are seeing quite a few juncos now. They usually wait until the sparrows are out of the way before they come down to feed.
Watching the birds is my go-to activity at this time of year. I completely understand your aversion to gorging pigeons though
Same here! The birds and squirrels are about the only signs of life out there in the garden during the winter months. Thank you so much for stopping by.
What a wonderful collection!
Thank you, Cindy!
Great bird pics!
Thank you so much, George!
Beautiful pics Sue! Yes, I know the messy pigeons – once had to pay extra to get the balcony of a rented apartment cleaned! Loved this p’full sentence “preponderance of pigeons pooping on the patio” 😂
Thank you so much for stopping by. The pigeons have thankfully popped off to their previous place.