Pigeons are a peaceful and sweet bird. It’s one of the reasons why pigeons get scared of predators so quickly. They have an alarming sense which alerts than when they notice a predator around. Have you ever seen pigeons start to make specific confusing “cou-cou” noise when they’re scared of something?
I’ll tell you what pigeons are mostly scared of so that you get to know this phenomenon. Pigeons are naturally cool and calm bird; they don’t bite you or harm other pigeons. You might see pet pigeons fight for their territory, but they get along quite easily.
However, they only get aggressive if you put your hands in their nest and try to touch baby pigeons. It doesn’t mean they could be aggressive against pigeon predators. Unfortunately, predators out there can harm pigeons, and you should be aware of these predators. The reason is that they don’t just scare the pigeons, but instead, they could harm them as well.
Let me share some of the predators’ pigeons are scared of, whether they’re stray pigeons living on the trees in the forests or pet pigeons living in the pigeon cage at home.
Pigeons are scared of the following predators:
Hawks
Hawks are nature’s unique predator that scare the majority of the smaller birds, especially parrots, pigeons, and sparrows. They mostly attack pigeons in the forests and countrysides. People mostly don’t keep pigeons in the cities, but it depends on the local laws. There are countries where it’s prohibited to keep pigeons more than a certain number and countries that don’t have any restrictions on the pet birds whatsoever.
As far as Hawks are concerned, they prey on pigeons quite easily. They have many advantages over pigeons; for instance, they are bigger in size, lightning-fast, and natural predator. A pigeon doesn’t stand a chance if a hawk sees that pigeon up on the sky and goes after him.
Shikra
Shikra is a popular bird of prey in the family Accipitridae and found in Asia and Africa. They are also called the little banded goshawk. You might have heard about them if you’re a pigeon fancier from Asia or Africa.
Shikra is comparatively smaller than a hawk but bigger than a pigeon. Pigeons are scared of Shikra for an apparent reason; let’s say that Shikra is no different from a hawk when it comes to attacking pigeons.
Cats
Cats are one of the most skilled predators out there. They have the predatory instincts of a lion and tiger, meaning they chase the prey like lions and tigers or get closer to the prey silently.
When it comes to preying on pigeons, cats find it easy to attack pigeons and capture them. The escape becomes impossible for pigeons if a cat enters the pigeon cage and find a few pigeons sitting on the eggs.
Crows
Crows aren’t that aggressive when it comes to attacking or scaring pigeons, but if a pack of crows starts chasing a pigeon, they could hurt the pigeon. Furthermore, it’s been heard that crows could enter into the pigeon cage and steal the eggs or take away the pigeon babies a couple of days old.
Other than that, they can’t attack or scare pigeons, especially if they see a person or a dog near the pigeon cage, they won’t come near the pigeons even for the water.
What Does Scare Your Pigeons?
If you noticed that something scares your pigeons when they’re out of the cage and they suddenly startle together, or some of them fly away, then watch out for the following things:
- Is there any cloth or flag or curtain moves now and then?
- Is any pet nearby that is not familiar with the pigeons?
- Does anyone play with a ball near the pigeons?
There is always a reason that scares the pigeon. You can dig deeper into it and find out what scares the pigeon now and then. It’s essential to figure it out and remove that thing. If it keeps happening, sometimes, pigeons get scared and fly away. Chances are, a couple of them that aren’t regular flyers might not come back because they don’t fly more often. Hence, such irregular flyer pigeons could forget the home and get lost.
So figure out what scares your pigeon and fix the problem.
All the best.
