Topic: Pretend hawk

[manicscousers]

Anyone got any experience with these, we're having such a lot of pigeon damage on site, I'm trying to think of ways to discourage them . Don't know what to search for ???

[goodlife]

We've got 'colony' of hawks and owls turned up on our allotment site.. ;D Every other plot has one standing on top of pole...some say they do work and others.. :-\
We've got couple of shops here that are selling them, but they are not cheap. Hawk/kestrel about £5 and owl that has moving head £10.
I'll have a look if I see them in sale on net for you.

[goodlife]

here we are... http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=bird+scarer&_sacat=0

[manicscousers]

Thanks for that, Goodlife. I'll report back at the meeting on Saturday. They're really wreaking havoc this year, not on ours as we cover  :)

[pumkinlover]

here we are... http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=bird+scarer&_sacat=0

So it's not a joke then :-[

[goodlife]

Nope  ;D

I suspect that more common they become..less they work..

[Digeroo]

I made one to protect some peas a couple of years ago out of a cornflake packet and strung it up between two canes.  Not sure it worked but it amused me.  I think thread works better.  Pigeons do not like cotton threads strung around the place.  I think it whistles in the wind.

We have got a real red kite.  Very effective.   Almost daily splattering of feathers somewhere on site.  Kestrel is useless for pigeons but does go for the voles.

Still need to net the brassicas.

[Ru1]

On my old allotment I used a concrete eagle owl, which sat in the middle of my allotment.

I also used a cheap plastic eagle owl on the shed.

They both worked very well and kept the pigeons off.

[pumkinlover]

I think we will have to ask Betty is she can make one! she's good at that sort of thing.
Digeroo love the ingenuity of using a cornflake packet! possible not last too long this year in the rain :(

[Palustris]

Mine is just a silhouette made from a piece of black plastic. It dangles from the branches of an apple tree and it certainly keeps the blackbirds away from the fruit. Not sure if it works on pigeons though. The gardeners at Croft Castle had a model hawk dangling over the Veg beds and they said it was very effective.

[caroline7758]

We have a lot of red kites around here but have never seen one at my allotment yet. If the pigeons don't get the brassicas, the slugs will. :(

[ACE]

I would think that the silhouette of a hawk would not work that well unless it is up really high. Also animals get blase if the fake bird is not moved around quite often. Red kites don't hunt like they used to, they get fed at feeding stations for the publics delight and with all the road kill they don't need to spend energy on chasing pidgeons.