Hello Marg,
Sure, the suggestion of chooks is a good explanation about an attractant. But it doesn’t explain about the persistent preference for perching along one stretch
but not a few metres away. Another neighbour does have 3 chooks but that would not generate much. The habit I believe long predates the arrival of this neighbour and that now bare backyard was formerly impenetrable jungle. (The owner neighbour had not been
in his big backyard for at least 30 years and it was not possible to open the back door, as the tree growth had sealed the door shut.) More to the point, I don’t notice the Crested Pigeons arrival or departure to the power lines from that property or direction.
Another point is that the species usually nests in bushes on my yard but still will not perch on my powerlines or the big eucalypt over.
As for at the base of Learmonth Drive, I have no idea about whether there are chooks nearby but even so the distance from any houses would hardly explain the
preference for perching sites. The other side of the road is Urambi Hills.
I was wondering if others had noticed a similar persistent preference.
Philip
From: Marg Peachey [
Sent: Thursday, 3 June, 2021 4:53 PM
To: Philip Veerman
Cc:
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Pigeon perching preference permanency peculiarity
Hi Philip,
Does someone close by have chooks? When we had chooks we had dozens of crested pigeons always perching on the power line nearby. Since the chooks left for hen heaven there has not been any,
except for the odd one.
On Thu, 3 Jun 2021 at 16:02, Philip Veerman <> wrote:
I don’t think this is important but it is curious. I commonly have from 2 to 6 Crested Pigeons feeding on my back lawn. At any stage of the day it is likely that there are 10 to
20 Crested Pigeons perching on the power lines at the back of my neighbour’s yard. Flying in from any direction to assemble there. The power lines are continuous at the back of my yard but the Crested Pigeons never perch on the lines at the back of my yard.
Nor have I ever seen one perch in my big tree. I asked my neighbour does he feed them. Absolutely no, he says. He hates them because they poop all over his yard furniture and in his pool. Several times a week I drive along Athllon Drive and turn left onto
Learmonth Drive (or the other way). At almost any time there are likely to be many (sometimes 50 or more) Crested Pigeons perching on the power lines on the east side of Learmonth Drive. Often with flocks of Little Corellas and Magpie-larks. I have never seen
any perching on the power lines on the west side of Learmonth Drive. In both cases there is nothing obvious to me as to why they should make that choice and keep to it. This has been consistent over many years.
Philip
Kambah ACT 2902
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