Pigeons (not strictly gardening)

[SockFluffInTheBath]

…but they’re in the garden by the hundred.

In short, how do I deter pigeons without scaring off everything else? If I don’t put food on the ground the poor blackbirds gets nothing and crowds of pigeons just stomp around under the feeders. Someone in the village has a dovecote and they all come to me for food. I can’t keep spending what it takes to feed them on top of the existing bird population- the greedy little bastards literally hoover every last drop.

It's just a plastic toy snake. Bright green from the pound shop. I move it around the garden it apparently provokes a predator response like the owl

....but I did see a Tiny Robin look at the plastic snake he thought it was a large worm! Robin clearly likes to punch above their weight

I trained my dog to chase off wood pigeons and squirrels from the bird feeder but she does not bother with the smaller birds. It is very useful and keeps her busy.

I never understood why people saw pigeons as pests, I really quite like the ones that come to our garden. We have one in particular that seems to get fatter by the day and has even started bringing his or her partner along for a spot of sunbathing on the grass 😂 Unless they're causing huge problems let them be, they're just trying to get by like all of us ❤️ The only bird I did find troublesome was crows when we used to live in a flat. Hundreds of them would nest in the surrounding trees and their loud calls could be heard as early as 3am and went on for hours 😂 We put up with it and saw the funny side, though we certainly don't miss the racket they make early in the morning now we've moved somewhere new haha

We used to live 200 metres from the sea and I certainly don't miss the seagulls 🤬. Vicious buggers! Now we live in the countryside and I put up with the pigeons (don't feed them mind you!) as they are infinitely preferable to gulls!

@Springblossom2022 pigeons are a bit of a nuisance if you grow vegetables. They are especially fond of brassicas and peas and can strip the plants bare!

Aw, I adore pigeons! We garden similarly to you, and put a variety of food out and we get about 10 different birds visiting our garden daily. The pigeons amble about non-competitively awaiting dropped bits. The worst issue we had was last year some covids fed on some blue tits. That was dramatic and I wish I hadn't seen it!

The pigeons that visit our garden look overweight and waddle about, they have difficulty perching on the bird table and getting their head under the little roof bit

Blackbirds will use hanging feeders - if there's not much on the ground for them.

We have one with a white feather on his head that is very acrobatic indeed at using the hanging feeders.

We only have a pair of fat wood pigeons but they pecked at my new pond marginals so I put some netting over them. The main problem we have is jackdaws that come down to feed on bread and pizza chucked out by the neighbour into their garden. They are sometimes joined by a pair of huge rooks too! They completely polish off the food in their feeders so we don't bother feeding any birds now. All that happens is jackdaws steal the lot!

My blackbirds enjoy cat food, meal worms and apples. The pigeons leave all that alone, and hang about under the bird feeder for dropped seeds. I avoid putting out bread on the lawn as it attracts seagulls and rooks, as well as pigeons.