HELP! I need to outsmart a 🔶BIRD BRAIN!🔶 (feral pigeons)

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JungleShooter

JungleShooter

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Sep 5, 2018
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Lima (11,000,000 people + twice as many pigeons)
HELP!

🔶 I need to outsmart a BIRD BRAIN! 🔶
(feral pigeons and semi-ferals)


OK, I'm done!! I thought I had like 1000 times more brain than a PIGEON.
But as it turns out, they are smarter than I thought they were. 😡
And the owner of the permission where I shoot soon might be wondering if my brain is up for the (killing) task....



HELP!
I need a little bit of tutoring in pigeon psychology — or whatever it is a hunter studies to understand his/her prey. 😟




You see, I don't have much experience with hunting — stalking, hides, baiting, camouflage, all that good stuff. 🤔
'Cause I'm a city slicker, grew up that way, and I recently even upgraded my city slicker rating...., from a population of 300,000 to 10,000,000.
Yupp, believe me, it's a jungle out there....


So, how does a feral pigeon tick? 🤔
And how do I tick it off the list of the living (= one less to spread their infectuous poop all over my city)? 🤔



—>

I'll present you with 3 scenarios that torture my brain. Maybe you can help me understand them.
For each scenario I added a couple of questions that cause me brain pain.



🔴 My Experiences — Open for Your Interpretation 🔴


🔶Scenario 1a: Feral Pigeons
Location: An area of grass and trees where people often walk
Distance to humans: 2 yards — I can walk toward them and they won't even hurry up to get out of my way!


🔶Scenario 1b
Location: Same place — this time the same pigeons sit on a tall tree, in apparent safety!
Distance to humans: When I appear slowly from behind a natural hide — at a distance of 20 yards — they usually flee in less than 5 seconds!


❔Q1: Why such a DIFFERENCE between 1a and 1b?!? 🤔
❔Q2: How do I PREVENT them to flee in Scenario 1b? 🤔





🔶Scenario (2a): Semi-Feral Pigeons
Location: A cow farm, basically a large corral 50y x 100y
Distance to humans: Several workers frequently go all over the corral.
The pigeons feed on the ground or sit on the fences.
I could get so close that I shot 40 pigeons in 4 hours. Beginner's luck.
Ranges mostly 10 to 40y.
After a kill they flew off, only to return shortly after.

🔶Scenario (2b)
Distance to humans: So close that I shot 80 in 8 hours, same as before (ranges 10 to 40y). Beginner's DUMB luck. 😄
Note that they avoided roosting on a water tower where I had nailed 10 of them in Scenario 2a.

🔶Scenario (2c)
Distance to humans: So far away that I shot 2 pigeons in 3 hours! 😟
They circled overhead many times, but rarely ever landed.
When they saw me approach and getting to about 60y range — they fled.
There are no natural hides.
Scenarios 2a, 2b, and 2c all took place within one month.


❔Q3: Was 2c simply a FREAK incident, an unusual coincidence?!


❔Q4: Do pigeons RECOGNIZE human beings? How can they tell me apart from the workers - from whom they don't flee?


❔Q5: Do pigeons LEARN that a certain place or a certain person is dangerous to their health? What are the things they learn or recognize: colors, faces, cars, times of the day, a person with a gun....?


❔Q6: How can I CONFUSE THEIR LEARNING — or help them to forget or to unlearn — and to start trusting places and people again?


❔Q7: If I set up a popup blind in the middle of the corral to hinde in — will they not soon associate the presence of the blind with their comrades deaths — and stay away?


—————————————



❔Q8: I understand that deer and other similarly sophisticated mammals are very cautious, and very perceptive to sight, sound, and smell. Very smart.
But pigeons?!? C'mon! 😡
They got BIRD brains.
That leads to the next scenario.




🔶Scenario (3a)
Distance to humans: I sit in my tiny backyard and I have humming birds and 10 other types of birds, small and large, sit in the bushes and the grass around me.
Range 2 to 5 yards.
I move, they stay.
🔶Scenario (3b)
Distance to humans: Pigeons never enter my backyard with me present.
If I do make a slow careful appearance they immediately rush off! Every other winged visitor stays.

❔Q9: Why the difference between pigeons (3b), and other birds (3a)?





Thanks for your help! Together we'll show them bird brains who's got more of a brain! 💀

Matthias
 
Scenario 1, from my personal experience I believe that birds such as pigeons (as well as other animals) can sense when they are being watched. You do know that birds like pigeons are constantly on the look out for birds of prey such as hawks and eagles. They are a lot more keen than most people realize. They probably realize that you are watching them, plus they have learned to associate you with death. Pigeons have decent eye sight considering they use their vision to seek for food on the ground while flying.

q3,4, 5, I do not think that it was a freak accident. Animals can learn things through association, they probably learned your face and now associate you with their imminent death. They probably notice that you stare at them for a long time compared to the workers. 

The only thing you can do is give them time to forget your face, or maybe leave a blind there so they get used to seeing it and use it to shoot them from a hidden spot. 
 
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I don't know about the pigeons, but 3 years ago I shot 20 starlings and layed them on my deck for a week. Haven't had a starling in the yard since. Sparrows will flee when they see me, but the other birds don't.

If I shoot the sparrows, the juncos pay no notice because i never shot at them. Same with the cardinals and blue jays. I have a rabbit that never runs off and lets me get within 10 yards, like it knows I have no plans to shoot it. 




 
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Location: A cow farm, basically a large corral 50y x 100y
Distance to humans: Several workers frequently go all over the corral.
Click to expand...

Might sound dumb. Some birds..turkeys, for instance..see color really well. Have you tried dressing in the same color pattern as the farm workers? Move in the same manner as the workers..not stealthy. Maybe even carry a shovel or tool like they do. You can use the tool as a shooting stick. 
 
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From my experience pigeons are smart and they remember. I’m also convinced that they can communicate in some manor we can not.

I know for a fact they learn to know if you point a gun in their direction what’s next . 

I believe they can identify individuals. The farmer can be in close proximity and they will not fly. I can drive in and they will fly off.

They also will move off if you hassle them. If you shoot at one location a time or two they will move off to another farm. 

I had no idea they were that smart. I’ve had occasions where they would sit on the barn roof next to the silo . I didn’t shoot them on the roof because of the risk of damage. Farmer came by and said did not to worry about the roof. Shot two off the roof they haven’t landed there since. 

They clearly learn and clearly remember. 
 
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 Great post. Every spring, I work like crazy to keep the English sparrows in check, and keep them from nesting where I want the song birds to nest. I start out with an air gun, shooting them off hand. Very soon I’m shooting out to 50 to 70 yards, because they won’t let me get any closer. Then they just flush whenever I come near. So I carry a 12 gauge shotgun with skeet loads. They fly immediately, as soon as They figure out I’m coming their way.

We used to joke about the same thing with pheasants down in Iowa. Opening weekend they were all idiot freshmen. If you spot some in the ditch, you park 50 yards past them get out load your shotguns run down and flush them.

By the end of the season, they all graduated and have their doctorate. They are graded the entire way on a pass fail system. Failure means death, there’s no second chance. Those bird brains learn fast.
 
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Crows are particularly intelligent. However, if one is killed, the marauding flock seems to avoid the area. (raiding nests and eating young squirrels and birds)

The "lookout" calls the murder of crows and they avoid the area. 

Just my experience for what its worth. Pigeons, I have no experience with but I know that they have great eye sight. 

Gary
Venice, FL
 
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Almost any of those birds, plus the collared doves, I think learn quickly. I've had all of those eating off a farmers feed for his dairy cows. I've hunted from a full blind, a camo net in with the cows themselves, and from my truck. It's all on his property so I am not violating state laws. Shooting from the truck, Dodge 4x4, has been the best AFTER they learned to stay away when the blind was up. I am thinking they are thinking I am one of the resident farmers when in the truck. (It's warmer also)


 
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It's all about how the birds perceive "fear"!

If they have become comfortable around humans who feed them, they will stick tight at your approach. If they sense a predator is sneaking up on them, they will wait up in the trees/wires/silo's/etc, then they will bolt at the first sign of movement.

Birds are hardwired to movement. If there is movement and the bird is not conditioned to that movement (as in humans tossing them corn from a bench) then their survival instinct will cause them to fly away.

If you want to hunt them in their known permanent high roosts, get a blind that permits you to move without the birds seeing you from above. A simple Walmart camo web/tarp with a small shooting hole can accomplish this.

If you want to trick them, condition them to a specific location by feeding/baiting them. They are always hungry. Find where their flight paths usually take them. Put the feed out in plain view along this pathway/roost/habitat, put your blind 25-30 yards away, The first few times don't wait around, they will see you and not stop. After a few days, check to see if the bait is being consumed. It may take a week or so, but they will eventually find it and store the location in their memory banks. 

This should work for awhile, but the birds are not as stupid as they look. For something with a brain the size of a peanut, they are hardwired for survival. To overcome this precaution, simply change the location of the bait site. After all, they are not THAT bright! Just don't let them see any movement...



Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot
 
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I find the fact that they remember remarkable. My first experience goes as follows. I had a pretty concealed spot and shot at them on the top of a silo. They flew off and landed. Shot again , flew off a little further and a little further. Each time I shot they went a little further. After this went on and I had about 10 or 15 of 50 or so they didn’t land again.

About ten days later I got into position and shot once and those pigeons flew off and did not return. That surprised the heck out of me.

I also believe that there is some type of communication between them ( pigeon talk) but that might be both hard to prove and hard to believe .
 
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