four-wheel-drive Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 I was looking out of my back window yesterday and there was a pigeon all fluffed up sat in the rain on top of the factory roof at the bottom of my garden and it made me think. Why would a bird not do what most other animals do and take cover horses and cows tend to get under trees if they can and rabbits etc go down there burrows so why do stupid birds just sit out in the rain. Also I have loads of sparrows they nest in the factory roof I had about 50 of them on a big bush in the garden the other day but when they are not breeding where do they go to at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlivet Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 In Germany last year I was watching a pigeon in a storm. It was sitting on top of a roof in a deluge, acting in exactly the same way as a human in a shower, lifting one wing at a time to do under its 'armpits'!! It was obviously having a great time but looked really odd! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 In Germany last year I was watching a pigeon in a storm. It was sitting on top of a roof in a deluge, acting in exactly the same way as a human in a shower, lifting one wing at a time to do under its 'armpits'!! It was obviously having a great time but looked really odd! ive seen this several times over the last couple of summers , its when the weather has been hot and dry for a few days and then we have a storm , on one occasion , me and the good lady watched around a dozen pigeons all doing it in the neighbours ash tree , it was very comical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Maybe parasite control for the pigeon, have seen them in my garden using ants nest for the same reason? 50 house sparrows around, very lucky! Probably flock up with other species in the winter as a small mixed flock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Cutler Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) I was looking out of my back window yesterday and there was a pigeon all fluffed up sat in the rain on top of the factory roof at the bottom of my garden and it made me think. Why would a bird not do what most other animals do and take cover horses and cows tend to get under trees if they can and rabbits etc go down there burrows so why do stupid birds just sit out in the rain. Also I have loads of sparrows they nest in the factory roof I had about 50 of them on a big bush in the garden the other day but when they are not breeding where do they go to at night. Could have quite simply been taking a shower... most birds like to bathe either in water or dust. A pigeons plumage is quite capable of withstanding all but the heaviest rain. When its torrential they will take to the trees often seeking refuge close to the trunk amongst Ivy or in tightly leaved evergreens like cedar or cypress. These are favoured roost sites also. Sparrows will flock up with other finches and hit the stubble in some areas, others will just stay around residential areas where we supply them with a ready food supply. Birds which flock up in winter normally have communal roosts too but this also applies to individual birds which will be more or less solitary during the day when feeding yet come together at night in traditional roost sites. Starlings are a good example of this as are greenfinches and pied wagtails. There is a farm nearby where 50 plus sparrows roost each night in the rafters of a open sided barn. There also used to be a communal roost of pied wagtails in a tree in Chipping Norton market place...a couple of years ago about this time of year I counted over a hundred individuals flight in to roost. I suppose with the surrounding street and shop lights and being in a built up area it was secure and slightly warmer than the surrounding countryside. Sparrows tend to use tradition roost sites also between open eaves and roof sarking felt is a favourite as is thick leylandii hedges which provide great protection. Wrens often communally roost in bird boxes and even post boxes in really cold weather ... in 2003 we had a lot of snow and there were 24 counted into a large nest box in the garden Edited September 20, 2016 by Adge Cutler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 It is good to see house sparrow numbers increasing. I have about 25-30 come every day onto the feeders in my yard. I have just reclad the end of my workshop and have put the first of six nest boxes I hope will be used by them. Of course with all the regulations about sealing up grain stores and farm buildings these days they don't have the nesting spaces they did have. As a kid I was tasked with keeping the numbers down on the farm with my air rifle and occasionally my grandfather would let me use the 12 gauge ... one cartridge, dust shot at a hundred or more feeding on the wheat and oats spilled out side the mill house/mixing shed. I then had to pluck and clean them and my grandmother would put them in a pie ... no kidding. It now grieves me because they are almost rare today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Cutler Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) It is good to see house sparrow numbers increasing. I have about 25-30 come every day onto the feeders in my yard. I have just reclad the end of my workshop and have put the first of six nest boxes I hope will be used by them. Of course with all the regulations about sealing up grain stores and farm buildings these days they don't have the nesting spaces they did have. As a kid I was tasked with keeping the numbers down on the farm with my air rifle and occasionally my grandfather would let me use the 12 gauge ... one cartridge, dust shot at a hundred or more feeding on the wheat and oats spilled out side the mill house/mixing shed. I then had to pluck and clean them and my grandmother would put them in a pie ... no kidding. It now grieves me because they are almost rare today. My father told me stories too about sparrow shooting parties during the 30's and 40's when men from the village sometimes a dozen strong would shoot hundreds of sparrows which were descending on wheat fields in their thousands.. This article is interesting and worth a read. http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/features/when-sport-meant-sparrows-1316 I hope that Tree Sparrow numbers will recover in the future too..the GCT are doing a great job on some of their members farms and estates in protecting these and bringing them back from the brink..incidentally I saw two amongst 40 odd house sparrows taking a dust bath on a country lane outside Cirencester earlier in the summer. Edited September 20, 2016 by Adge Cutler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Rain does not usually trouble most birds unless its very heavy , but they do not like the cold and wind or driving rain. Even ducks that have waterproof feathers will leave mudflats and open water and seek sheltered spots in bad weather, reedy pools , creek bottoms ect. I often see teal after a very cold night warming themselves against a sheltered creek bank catching the first rays of the sun. Pigeons too seek shelter when roosting in winter. Watch the birds as they come into roost on a cold night . At first they land on the upper branches and then as it gets dark then drop down to more sheltered spots, ie holly bushes , ivy covered trunks or thickets where the wind is broken and it is warmer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 it rains in the woods an hour after the shower has passed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 I do not feed the birds as I do not want to attract the rats into my garden but I have several neighbours who do feed them then there is a big factory at the bottom of my garden with a metal roof and gutter the sparrows seem to get in behind the gutter and nest under the metal roof. They must go in a bit as the crows like to get on to the roof and put stale bread and crusts into the water in the gutters to soften up before eating it. There seems to be about 10 sparrows who live there through the winter and they lay eggs in the spring and through the summer until this time of year when they number about 50 but where they go in winter I do not now if they die off or find somewhere different/wormer to live . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Maybe parasite control for the pigeon, have seen them in my garden using ants nest for the same reason? 50 house sparrows around, very lucky! Probably flock up with other species in the winter as a small mixed flock? We have so many here they are eating me out of house and home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFC Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 In Germany last year I was watching a pigeon in a storm. It was sitting on top of a roof in a deluge, acting in exactly the same way as a human in a shower, lifting one wing at a time to do under its 'armpits'!! It was obviously having a great time but looked really odd! would it have been using Dove? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) We have so many here they are eating me out of house and home. Keep on feeding CharlieT, will send an occasional fiver to help with costs. FWIW, here, hedge sparrows (not dunnocks) outnumber house sparrows about 30 to 1. Green finches about extinct, golds nearly as bad but hundreds of magpies jackdaws and crows. Edited September 22, 2016 by old man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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