Varied diet

[Blackpowder]

Just butchered 4 pigeon shot last night as they came to roost.   With a bit of snow on the ground I thought all four would be stuffed with OSR.  Not so. One had a mixture of stubble barley and ditto beans  plus a few pieces of clover.   Next had sort of semi clean barley including full heads, not muddy but more like from a standing crop.  Number three full of pheasant feeder wheat and number four stuffed with clover.  So no certain pointer at where to seek feeding birds.

 

Blackpowder

[Ultrastu]

Very interesting 

I was thinking that they would start hitting the clover at the end of feb .

[aga man]

Interesting observations and a useful post. Surprised you didn't find any Ivy berries, some of the very few pigeons I am shooting lately are stuffed full of them.

[JDog]

I shot several pigeons in a wood not far from you two weeks ago, near where there were huge numbers on beans last year, and some were full of clean barley. I cannot for the life of me fathom where they got that from unless they had been in a grain store which seems unlikely.

[motty]

I

5 hours ago, JDog said:

I shot several pigeons in a wood not far from you two weeks ago, near where there were huge numbers on beans last year, and some were full of clean barley. I cannot for the life of me fathom where they got that from unless they had been in a grain store which seems unlikely.

It would not surprise me if pigeons were picking up grain from fed flight ponds.

[Worzel-gummidge]

9 minutes ago, motty said:

I

It would not surprise me if pigeons were picking up grain from fed flight ponds.

Exactly that, saw quite a few today on the duck feeders (barley) while beating 

[Blackpowder]

1 hour ago, Worzel-gummidge said:

Exactly that, saw quite a few today on the duck feeders (barley) while beating 

Barley and beans were muddy in one instance, the other looked quite dry , not as if it had been in water.

 

Blackpowder