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Copied from Bird Crazies: I'm feeding pigeons on my windowsill this summer. As per the internet, since I've been putting out the feed at about the same time every day, birds have been congregating on my windowsill at the same time. In theory it sounds fun, but with time has become a bit upsetting, because, well, what gathers is a flock that doesn't fit on the windowsill all at once, they've poo poo up the place, so I somehow try to pour the seeds around the poo poo. I mean, I don't mind the poop per se, but I feel bad that they probably have to eat each others poop. And, well, I don't know what I was expecting, but there's a lot of suffering and misery, from the contstant fighting through scraggly pigeon-hobo types to pigeon cancer. It's also annoying that all I get is pigeons. In this area there's plenty of other birds: sparrows, crows, guys I don't know the name of, even gulls. I don't want to stop this completely, but maybe there's something I could do to make the activity more fun for myself? I've just thought that maybe I should at least switch to a random schedule, so hopefully they won't gather here all at once. Obligatory picture:  I think this guy has had enough. (Taken during an impropmtu feeding party, so there's not a sea of birds, which is not particularly interesting to look at.)
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Jun 30, 2015 05:19
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 23:01 |
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When you feed pigeons do you feel more like the old lady from Home Alone or a young Mike Tyson?
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Jun 30, 2015 14:35
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Any other references? 
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Jun 30, 2015 14:51
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I think that's the purpose of bird feeders: they eat from above and they poop on everything below. If they cared enough about the poop/food ratio, they probably wouldn't still eat the food, so whatever. Making it more fun? You're into bird watching. I don't get it, but birds scrapping against each other for the food binge seems more interesting than just ..being birds. My mom is into birds and she researches which bird she is trying to get visit here and puts up a specific food/type of feeder to encourage the bird and dissuade the bullies. Then she keeps it up all the time so they just come and go as they please. *shrugs* Good luck with your bird thing.
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Jun 30, 2015 16:30
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supermikhail posted:Any other references? Only those two my friend... :-)
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Jun 30, 2015 16:34
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CoolCat posted:Only those two my friend... :-) Fine... Er. Neither? I mean, I don't know how they felt, but I don't have 350 pigeons and they are not mine. For the old lady, you're gonna have to give me something more. The Wikipedia article for Home Alone 1 doesn't have any pigeon ladies. I think I remember seeing her in one of the sequels, but hell if I remember which... Although I probably can guess the general gist - a crazy bird lady. And for all I know I could be a crazy bird dude. I mean, I haven't seen people feeding birds on their windowsills, and that's gotta say something about the normality of this activity (at least as derived from the word "norm"). Ferryll posted:I think that's the purpose of bird feeders: they eat from above and they poop on everything below. If they cared enough about the poop/food ratio, they probably wouldn't still eat the food, so whatever. Making it more fun? You're into bird watching. I don't get it, but birds scrapping against each other for the food binge seems more interesting than just ..being birds. My mom is into birds and she researches which bird she is trying to get visit here and puts up a specific food/type of feeder to encourage the bird and dissuade the bullies. Then she keeps it up all the time so they just come and go as they please. *shrugs* Good luck with your bird thing. The problem is I'm pretty sure pigeons eat everything. They've eaten dry pasta. A small variety, but still. And on the other side of the spectrum they've gone as small as possible. I guess I could get a specialized feeder which would be more suitable for smaller birds. And crows were supposed to be quite fond of pasta, but so are pigeons, apparently. Anyway, thanks for your input. 
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Jun 30, 2015 17:14
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Well, a neighbor has indicated that bird presence over the common entrance is not preferable, so that's probably that.
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Jul 2, 2015 13:39
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Have you considered switching to hummingbirds? They're pretty, completely fearless, and often have knock-down-drag-out fights while you watch because they're angry, badass little fuckers.  Also tiny poops, and pigeons don't eat 20% sucrose
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Jul 3, 2015 05:45
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Oh, er, well, I'm in the European part of Russia, so there's never been any hummingbirds, but I also don't imagine there's many fun birds left in general.
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Jul 3, 2015 06:31
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drat, it's pretty loving depressing to hear them jumping on the window ledge (by the way, I've become aware of the architectural distinction between a windowsill and a window ledge, and all the time I've been referring to the latter) since the early morning. I mean, they haven't become completely accustomed to me, so I can't say they're waiting for me. But I still feel guilty a hell of a lot. And I'd just like to point out here, although it's not here that the point has been repeatedly raised, that I have a legitimate reason to be in a bad mood or depressed. I feel like I'm deliberately pushing away pals that have just been hanging around for a couple months and who have no clue what's going on.
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Jul 3, 2015 20:47
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supermikhail posted:drat, it's pretty loving depressing to hear them jumping on the window ledge (by the way, I've become aware of the architectural distinction between a windowsill and a window ledge, and all the time I've been referring to the latter) since the early morning. I mean, they haven't become completely accustomed to me, so I can't say they're waiting for me. But I still feel guilty a hell of a lot. And I'd just like to point out here, although it's not here that the point has been repeatedly raised, that I have a legitimate reason to be in a bad mood or depressed. I feel like I'm deliberately pushing away pals that have just been hanging around for a couple months and who have no clue what's going on. Can't you just get a normal bird feeder?
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Jul 6, 2015 22:00
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Umm, I'm not sure what you mean. The problem is bird crap, so I can't have any feeder near the building because birds would hang out here.
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Jul 7, 2015 06:15
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Have you tried putting on a bird suit and challenging them to combat?
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Jul 7, 2015 12:28
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supermikhail posted:Umm, I'm not sure what you mean. The problem is bird crap, so I can't have any feeder near the building because birds would hang out here. Well one problem you stated in the OP was that you were upset that the birds were crapping on the food. A feeder would solve this. Feeders usually have the food in a central bin with little perches all around, so the birds rear end is hanging out over open air where any poop will fall harmlessly to the ground and won't mix in with the food. The other thing is that bird feeders are fairly easy to hang from trees and the like where bird crap would fall down to the ground and become fertilizer. A lot of people worry about pigeon-proofing bird feeders. One guy said that pigeons can't eat unless on a flat surface, so he was able to use a feeder with angled perches that other birds can feed from while the pigeons couldn't. You could look into that.
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Jul 7, 2015 16:14
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You know what, I started feeding birds because I thought it would entertain my cat, and neither was she particularly entertained, but I don't care that much about entertaining her anymore. Plus, I think I'm getting used to no pigeons. /thread P.S. Don't bash pigeons, though. They are pretty cool, from what I've learned on my own, and also there are some nice videos on Youtube. Although also some where people brag about massacring pigeons en mass. I don't think it turned out so well last time, with passenger pigeons.
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Jul 7, 2015 17:56
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDJsgtoizj8
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Jul 7, 2015 17:59
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Rickroll me once - shame on you, rickroll me twice... (Or rather "SAtroll".) What's the video about? 
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Jul 7, 2015 18:55
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supermikhail posted:P.S. Don't bash pigeons, though Uh, I wasn't? You were the one who said that you wanted to get other birds to the feeders. Well, not stated directly but heavily implied. supermikhail posted:It's also annoying that all I get is pigeons. In this area there's plenty of other birds: sparrows, crows, guys I don't know the name of, even gulls.
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Jul 7, 2015 19:26
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Feed the birds, Tuppence a bag, Tuppence, Tuppence, Tuppence a bag
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Jul 7, 2015 19:30
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 23:01 |
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khy posted:Uh, I wasn't? You were the one who said that you wanted to get other birds to the feeders. Well, not stated directly but heavily implied. I think I was trying to use the more abstract sense of "you". 
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Jul 7, 2015 20:01
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