Posted: Fri Jul 15, 05 1:36 am Post subject: Woodpigeon
I have a lot of woodies nesting in the wood at the moment, and whilst I wouldn't wish to shoot the females, due to breeding, what does everyone think about shooting the males?...Would it do any harm?
Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 05 6:21 am Post subject:
How do you tell males apart from females and don't the males help raise the chicks? I vaguely remember an old custom of people collecting chicks about to fledge direct from the nest. I cannot remember if this was pigeons or crows.
I suppose this all depends on whether the males help rear the young, and for the life of me I don't know when the males stop taking an active part. Early on the males do help in feeding, at least in the feral pigeons in towns they do, so I should imagine that it's true for woodies. I've got thhe figure of '2 months' kicking around in my head; I doubt it needs to be that long before the young are independent of at least one parent.