aga man Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 hi guys/girls, just wondered if any of you that are shooting any amount of pigeons at the moment are noticing young birds amongst them. up here in east yorkshire quite a lot of the birds we are shooting on rape and at roost are young with no white neck markings. is this normal for late december? are the birds from a third brood? only got back into the pigeons last couple of years and noticing this more. don't remember this in late 80's early 90's. would be interested to hear from others especially those who shoot a lot of birds a year. to see if this is uccuring more often nowadays. just interesred really. aga man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I haven't been shooting big numbers of pigeons recently due to the low numbers on my grounds but I am still getting the odd young birds which surprises me, I thought this rain would of seen off any late broods. The last frw years we have shot good numbers of younger birds throughout the year,they must be breeding year round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) A bird with no white marks on its neck is under six months old. As they have their first molt at about six month, so they could of been hatched end of July onwards. Quote:Beginning at about 30 to 40 days of age, the youngster begins the first full molt. Each of the feathers is completely replaced. Roughly in about 150/170 days or about 5 or 6 months a young dove will have completed its "post juvenile" molt. For all practical purposes, from then on the feathers are the same as those of an adult bird. Edited December 28, 2012 by Actionpigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 A bird with no white marks on its neck is under six months old. As they have their first molt at about six month, so they could of been hatched end of July onwards. Quote:Beginning at about 30 to 40 days of age, the youngster begins the first full molt. Each of the feathers is completely replaced. Roughly in about 150/170 days or about 5 or 6 months a young dove will have completed its "post juvenile" molt. For all practical purposes, from then on the feathers are the same as those of an adult bird. That quote states 'young dove'...are woodpigeons the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 That quote states 'young dove'...are woodpigeons the same? I beleave most Pigeon/Doves follow this pattern, I know finches are roughly the same. I keep hawks and it a year before they get adult plumage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 thanks for the replys chaps. makes perfect sense what your saing actionpigeons and i don't doubt your experience but back in the eightys and ninetys the young birds we shot were in september and early october. if we shoot 50 at the moment 10 of them are juvenile no white neck marks and short quill feathers round the beak. we still get 30p from the game dealer for them but it seems a bit un usual at this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 There does seem to be young birds about just about every month of the year nowerdays, however I must admit I don't see many in the early spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I found it quite annoying how very late in the harvest how most of the birds seemed to be young with heads full of quill feathers and no body weight all of a sudden. Didn't really like to shoot them but it wasn't always obvious until they hit the deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I shot a bird yesterday that must barely have been out of the nest. Not only did it not have white neck markings it still had a soft beak. It must have been hatched something like mid November. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pestcontrol1 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 thanks for the replys chaps. makes perfect sense what your saing actionpigeons and i don't doubt your experience but back in the eightys and ninetys the young birds we shot were in september and early october. if we shoot 50 at the moment 10 of them are juvenile no white neck marks and short quill feathers round the beak. we still get 30p from the game dealer for them but it seems a bit un usual at this time of year. aga man what game dealer are you using ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
army646 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Shot 39 over rape last week, about 3 or four were juvenile birds with no neck band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 aga man what game dealer are you using ?? soanes at middleton. usually take 2 or 3 hundred frozen. Shot 39 over rape last week, about 3 or four were juvenile birds with no neck band what part of the country are you in mate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 soanes at middleton. usually take 2 or 3 hundred frozen A while since I went there with pigeons...wasn't worth it, but that is a seriously good price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 A while since I went there with pigeons...wasn't worth it, but that is a seriously good price! yeh they been pretty good this year think they were 20 p last year. i think they pay slightly more for fresh birds but never have the time to take them fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 30p is not a lot guys, I get 50p per bird all year round. they must be steel shot but steel works out same price as lead if not cheaper. if you want details of buyers PM me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 It is for me, can't sell them for half that anywhere near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 It is for me, can't sell them for half that anywhere near me. PM you some info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pestcontrol1 Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 soanes at middleton. usually take 2 or 3 hundred frozen. what part of the country are you in mate? Not to bad for soanes i stopped taking them there when all they would pay was 5p a bird and they would grade them as you took them. I took 200 fresh birds one day and they graded them and said there was 60 odd birds no good and would"t pay for them so i fetched all 200 back home again. 50p for steel shot birds sound a good price to as i am starting to shot steel now anyway Actionpigeons pm on way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) A young woodie will start to get it's neck spot at 3 months old, you will see just a few feathers turning to start with. In my area Woodies have changed their habbits to nest in the suburbs and take advantage of evergreen trees in back gardens, feeding from bird tables. Some of our biggest flightlines no longer come from the large pine woods, now they come from the towns. In the last 10 years it has become very comon to see young birds right through the winter months, even after long spells of cold snowy weather. Young bird shot in January 2010 after 3 weeks of sub-zero temperatures. Young woodie in the snow. by mj robson, on Flickr Young birds shot in January 2011 after 5 weeks of sub-zero temperatures. Young birds after 5 weeks of cold! by mj robson, on Flickr Edited December 30, 2012 by M ROBSON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I agree with MJ. As I sit here typing this there are a pair of woodies mating on the chimney opposite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
army646 Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 Evening aga man Iam from Skipton area but was shooting up in N.Yorks/Richmondshire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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