The pigeon is a pest. Right? When we think of pigeons we think of the feral pigeon. The ultimate survivor; an extremely efficient design able to fly with great efficiency, and able to optimise their interrelationship with humans by reuse of waste foodstuffs. Their ability to dominate areas is clearly exacerbated by their gregarious nature and typical “attack” in large swarms. However, apart from the effect of destroying your seed feeding zone, they do not seem to have that many harmful effects. In many parts they are regarded as vermin, but not the worst form of vermin out there. (That was not a political statement).
Sadly, many people wrongly associate them with the two naturally occurring pigeons in South Africa – the Speckled Pigeon, and the Rameron Pigeon, particularly the former.
The speckled pigeon is easily identified by the red markings around the eyes. When one looks with an objective mindset, you realise that the bird is really a handsome boy, coupled with all the efficiencies of the feral bird. However, they do prefer higher buildings or mountain cliffs, and seem to be better adjusted to rural living than their feral cousins. Interbreeding between Feral Pigeons and Speckled Pigeons does apparently happen, although I have never seen that in practise. Included here is a recent shot taken at Rietvlei Nature Reserve.
The other cousin is the Rameron (Olive) Pigeon. This is a bird that is not nearly so common, and actually may have not been seen by many Gauteng birders! They are more typically found in KZN, or in forested areas, and feed on berries. They certainly can never be on any sensible pest/vermin list.
So when you see a pigeon out there – look carefully! It may just end up to be a special note in your sightings book
