RACING PIGEONS – IMPACT OF RAPTOR PREDATION

• The risk of sparrowhawk predation at individual lofts was related to the
surrounding habitat. The group of lofts with ‘substantiated’ and ‘probable’ losses
to sparrowhawks were surrounded by a significantly greater percentage cover of
woodland than the group of lofts with only ‘possible’ losses and no losses to
sparrowhawks.
• Of the 32 lofts studied, 13 used some form of avian deterrent, including 8 of the
11 lofts with substantiated or probable losses to sparrowhawks. Deterrents used
were replica owls, terror-eye balloons and reflective discs. The strategy of
deterrent deployment at individual lofts, however, is not known.
• There were a further seven reported incidences in which losses from the loft area
were attributed to raptors other than sparrowhawks - six peregrine and one
goshawk. Five of the six reported peregrine incidents took place in the
Stirling/Dunbartonshire region. Stirling is a region in which a number of
peregrine eyries are located relatively near to lofts.
1.4 LOSSES TO PEREGRINES
• A total of sixteen releases (thirteen races and three training flights) were attended
at a range of locations to check for raptor activity. The only evidence of raptor
activity was one peregrine attack in the vicinity of pigeons training in the Largs
area. No scattering of the flock was noted due to the attack, although one pigeon
did not return to the loft until the following day.
• A total of 59 eyries in eight regions were searched for racing pigeon rings.
Overall 17% of all inland eyries in these eight regions were searched, representing
c.2% (NW England) to 66% (Dumfries & Galloway) of all inland eyries in
individual regions.
• A total of 1,213 pigeon rings were recovered during the eyrie searches, of which
720 belonged to the SHU or its predecessors. A total of 308 rings of recent origin
over six years (i.e. 1997-2002) belonged to Scottish pigeon fanciers. Altogether
74% of these provided some information on the history of the bird in question and
91% of these provided full information on where and when the pigeon was last
released. A total of 117 pigeons were reported by their owners as having been last
released in 2002 and therefore taken that year by peregrines. This gives a mean of
1.98 Scottish racing pigeons per eyrie searched. Correction factors were used to
take into account the fact that some owners could not provide the required
information and that a proportion of rings would not have been recovered at many
sites (based on re-searches of six sites). By applying these correction factors, a
mean of 4.76 Scottish racing pigeons killed per eyrie searched is obtained. This
suggests that the number of Scottish racing pigeons taken by peregrines is
approximately 4,100 (1.2% of the Scottish population). As the work progressed it
became clear that this method has limitations. As such, it provides only a
minimum figure of pigeons killed and does not accurately reflect the actual
number predated.
• Peregrine nesting sites and the SHU Federations of the pigeon rings recovered at
each eyrie were allocated to one of three regional categories (East, West, and
Central). This was done separately for old birds (95 rings) and young birds (58
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