G.I. countrysports U.K. GARY Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 What is the maximum distance that you can positively say that woodpigeons in your area have flown from roost woods to feed fields. I will give you my thoughts on this subject after some feedback... All the very best... GARY... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzer Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Gary, I would say that in my area they cover 4 to 10 miles from roost woods to feeding grounds. All the best Buzzer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 On average, in this area, no more than 4 miles. This should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
predator Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 birds i have watched in two different sites one lot travel about 3 miles and the others about the same it does not look far at all :what: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK 1 Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 gary. regarding your thread that was my sole objective on my last post < ringed woodies >due to the prolific response ie nil replies i learned **** all about the distance birds would travel. sorry to put a dappener on your thread mate. regards mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 I would say 5 miles max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergame Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 2 - 4 miles in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Do you think birds always return to the same roosting wood or do they have more than one roost (except when nesting)? If a pigeon roosts in an area with plenty of feed crop but the following year the crop rotation reduces the feed crops, will a pigeon fly greater distances to get to feed or say sod it and move to a new roost closer to the feed? Example, you roost shoot a known roosting wood up to darkness. When you leave there are no birds in the wood. Were did they go to kip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterswind9465 Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 we shoot 3 different areas of scotland and I find the birds move with the food just now there are very few birds in the aberdeen and fife area but where they are sowing below Edinburgh there are thousands of pigeon. normaly by the 20th march they are in Fife and by the first week in april they will all be up in Aberdeenshire and the Moray areas. Is it like this in England ??/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.I. countrysports U.K. GARY Posted March 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 First of all ''SORRY MARK'' I had not read your thread, and didn't realise that we were on the same lines as each other. I will give some very interesting data with regards to bird ringing as well... Distances woodies will fly... The furthest distance I have ever known woodies to fly for a good field was 12 miles. Directly, from roost to a very badly drilled bean field. Normally, it is no further than 4 miles. This is interesting, as we all know where differing flocks of birds roost. Surely, they will be within a 4 mile radius of the roost wood (somewhere) and we should be able to find them. The truth is that on some days they are just not out and about... I have returned 4 rings to the natural history museum over the years. The most interesting one was a bird that was ringed at an estimated age of 1 year old. A client shot it 8 years later 14kms from where it was initially ringed. The oldest woodie ever returned was 20. I also wrote to the British trust for ornithology for further study reports. The info that I got back was very interesting... It is a long winded report but I will try and extract a few of the main points... 1. The area of oilseed rape crop, without doubt, determines the size and movement patterns of woodpigeon populations. 2. The median distance between ringing and recovery for all aged birds (taking all ringing studies into account) is just 5 kms. 3. The woodpigeons in good arable areas moved far less than the birds in poorer arable areas. 4. The median distance for woodpigeons ringed and recovered as adults was a mere 2 kms. 5. Radio tagged, young, newly fledged birds were found to disperse initially, they returned to the same area as where they were hatched to breed themselves, they then remained in the locality of their first breeding attempt untill recovered. 6. Of 2,543 recoveries of woodpigeons ringed in Britain and Ireland only 1% was recovered overseas: 28 in France 1 in Germany 7. Out of all the woodpigeon ringing studies carried out by differant countries on the continent, only 8 foreign birds have been recovered here: 3 from the Netherlands 2 from Germany 2 from Denmark 1 from Norway 8. The study has been run since 1965. It concludes that, although, fiercely contested, only a very small number of woodpigeons actually emigrate to the continent and, similarly, that very few foreign birds reach these shores during their autumn migration. 9. Large scale costal movements of woodpigeon have without doubt been noted. In 1994 between 10th October and 25th November a total of 88,397 were logged flying south at Landguard point in Suffolk. They were tracked, and were thought likely to be birds from Fennoscandia heading for France or Iberia. They stayed on the coast, never found to be feeding. If you do shoot a ringed woodpigeon or any other bird (last year we shot a jackdaw that was 4 years old 2 kms from where it was ringed) always return the ring. The ringing authority will always send you the facts on the bird, and it helps them to conclude their studies. Draw your own conclusions from these facts... They are scientific studies that go to great lengths to obtain the information. Comments please... All the best... GARY... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 Its amazing that so much researchhas been done into the woodpigeon and its habits. The fact that they don,t move far from "home", doesn,t come as a major suprise. The age some of them live was much higher than I imagined. But, the "migration" findings seem rather strange. I can remember large flocks of pigeons coming across the Channel at Dover, it was even on the Southern TV news. When I lived on the Thames marshes, we use to see large flocks crossing the Thames, from Essex. I have never shot a woodpigeon with a ring, but I would certainly return it. Gary, where is the full report available from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon Ringer Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 Further to the recent talk on Woodpigeons found bearing rings, I would add that there is still a great deal to learn about Woodpigeons and it is through people like yourselves reporting the details of dead birds that the facts will be established. As a percentage of the population only a small number are ringed. which makes every report so valuable. It would be very beneficial for many more to be ringed. Although the ringing of Woodpigeons is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), other organisations such as the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the Game Conservancy use the information for helping to monitor the Woodpigeon population. When reporting a Woodpigeon ring, if informing the BTO by post, then write down the full ring number (even if sending the ring in as well, some get lost through the post) and as much information as possible about the finding circumstances. Each year, I ring about one hundred nestlings in suburban Liverpool as part of a monitoring programme of the population here. I am also looking at the interactions of the birds with agricultural operations. The birds in the suburban area certainly fly out to feed on farmland (minimum 7 kilometres away) at certain times of the year and I have had a number of birds reported as shot in these areas. It sounds like one of your forum members has shot several of these. In the interests of further knowledge about Woodpigeons, I would be very grateful if anybody shooting a Woodpigeon bearing a ring would report the details. Thanks in anticipation Pigeon Ringer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.I. countrysports U.K. GARY Posted March 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 For further information of bird ringing studies write to: BRITISH TRUST FOR ORNITHOLOGY THE NUNNERY THETFORD NORFOLK IP24 2PU WEB: www.bto.org All the best... GARY... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterswind9465 Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 I would like to know when these birds are having the rings put on them, If it is when they are on the nest I would have to say these are UK birds. we have huge movements in April with birds going North and again in September with masses of pigeon moving South. 1 of the guys who guides for me during the winter works on an oil rig 200 miles off shore and he has seen Pigeons resting on the rigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 Well, you learn something knew every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.