Humane ways to minimise pigeons in my garden?

[SpainToday]

Next door have a bird feeder in their garden, their choice, but obviously we get more birds (particularly pigeons) in our garden as a result, and I hate them. They leave such a mess and spoil my enjoyment of the garden. We have a cat who is too elderly to provide much help!

Any suggestions? Short of hiring a sniper I’m not sure what we can do?

Posting here for traffic

Thread title edited by MNHQ on OP's request, to make it clear she was referring to pigeons specifically

We've swopped two of our bird feeders for squirrel proof ones; the perches are weighted so that anything bigger than a blackbird pulls down the perch, shutting off access to the seed. It's deterred the magpies from raiding the feeders, as well as the squirrels, and encouraged more of the smaller birds into the garden. Maybe suggest it to your neighbour, under the guise of helping the garden birds to get enough food prior to nesting instead of letting the pigeons dominate?

Absolutely ridiculous.

OP, I bet you're the sort of person to lay green plastic instead of grass, aren't you?

Actually wanting to deter birds from a garden is utterly dystopian.

I really do despair sometimes.

Not helpful but reading about the carrier pigeons during war really opened my eyes to how amazing these little creatures are...

Attach a couple of cds to the washing line with string so they move about in the wind. Most birds will stay away.

Sit on the harbour side in Padstow with some fish and chips, that’ll alter you bird lovers opinion on the feathered fuckers.
😉😁😁.

I've seen Hey Duggee The Scarecrow Badge, so I know that what you need is to build a giant birdscaring robot like this one. https://img2.rtve.es/v/5670972?w=800&preview=1601052585451.jpg

The only thing that gets rid of pigeons in my garden is crows.

Pigeons are hideous vermin OP, I agree.
It's tricky to scare them away and encourage other cool endangered birds.

We've been here about 300,000 years.
Long time right?

Compared to birds (at LEAST 150 MILLION years), I'd say you're on their turf.

Hideous 'vermin' that humans domesticated, used to help win the wars, and then abandoned, yes.

I know what you mean OP, we have loads of birds in our garden and I generally love to see them except the bastard pigeons that outnumber all the other birds and crap everywhere. As someone who has overhead electricity cables for three houses spanning my front garden our cars are permanently covered in pigeon poo and if there was something that would keep them a way I'd definitely use it.

YABVVVU

I love birds, it’s a shame to discourage them.
However, if they are causing a mess I can understand your frustration. I think wind chimes and garden ornaments that move would be your best bet because birds don’t really like sudden movements or loud noise.

If you use a wind chime and your neighbour complains about the sound, it would then give you an opportunity to come to a compromise with your wind chime if they put less seeds out for the birds.

I’m pretty sure a RSPB commissioned study showed that even a feral cat’s diet is only about 3% birds. Most the birds caught by cats are likely to unwell.

One of the kids came home from school talking about pigeons being common - as in undesirable. I suggested that another word for common was successful…

I’ve got lovely wood pigeons in my garden, along with Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Blackbirds, Ring Doves, Magpies, an occasional Jay, Gold Finches and a Wren.

Anyone asking me to take the feeders down would get very terse reply.

There is no concern over the pigeon population!! 😅😅

Songbird population, absolutely, particularly blackbirds. They need encouraging and feeding but pigeons are big disease spreaders and there is a reason they should be controlled. Basically they're flying rats.

"The woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is a major agricultural pest in the UK. It is legal to shoot woodpigeons throughout the year in accordance with the terms and conditions of relevant, current general licences."

Bob Flowrdew used to make fake snakes (big ones) and put them in the trees to protect the fruit, or get those cut outs of cats, or a plastic falcon/eagle owl -you have to keep moving them but wirth a try.

Carrier pigeons are a different species to wood pigeons!!

Can you tell your neighbour you saw a rat under her bird feeder?

Stand in the middle of the garden and think really, really hard about Worzel Gummidge. Birds are sensitive creatures and should pickup on your 'vibes'.

Alternatively buy something like this (see photo, eventually) and lounge about the garden. That should keep the birds away.

Not much help to OP but someone on Gardeners’ Question Time once asked how they could get rid of the worms in their garden.

YABU. (don’t post on AIBU ‘for traffic’ unless you’re willing to hear that!)

Maybe you should think about increasing the competition by doing things to encourage small birds into your garden?
I get some woodpigeons and collared doves (I do a little ground feeding first thing in the morning for them and the blackbirds) but loads of other birds on the hanging feeder that they can’t use.

I understand OP. I would love smaller garden birds. The mass of pigeons, magpies and seagulls chase them away.

One of our neighbors has a fake owl.

😼

I have a pair of wood pigeons that come into my garden and I've been feeding a few peanuts to them every morning for about two years. Over that time, they managed to build about six or seven nests, only successfully reared two pigeon offspring. They are currently dive bombing the tree in my garden again presumably to build yet another ridiculously flimsy nest like the others.

Sadly, I had to take my feeders down due to the huge number of starlings flocking to it, sometimes there were about 40 birds all shrieking and arguing as they fought to get to the feeders. None of the little birds got a look in and were being scared away by the sheer numbers of starlings.

Then I noticed the large brown rat in the garden last week ... 😱