The bird we associate with town centres and urban areas is the Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) which is commonly found throughout Hertfordshire and the rest of the UK. The typical Feral Pigeon is around 31 to 34 cm in length, with a wing span of around 63-70 cm. Feral Pigeons are predominantly grey, with a little colour on their neck that may appear pink and green in certain lighting.

The Feral Pigeon feeds on seeds, meats, vegetables and other types of food dropped and discarded by humans, particularly in urban areas. We have all noticed pigeons in town centres and other populated areas, watching flocks of pigeons fly down to feed on dropped chips and other fast food types that are regularly dropped, before flying back to their roosting site.

The favourite roosting place for Feral Pigeons is abandoned buildings, pigeons are a community flocking bird and will nest in groups and share buildings. In particular, they are fond of roof spaces and will utilise gutters, chimneys and external ledges. The roosting places will usually be placed to take advantage of food dropped by humans in populated areas.

Pigeons live in flocks ranging from anywhere between 50 and 500 pigeons and Pigeons can breed throughout the year. In the spring time, Feral Pigeons can be seen eating grass seeds in parks, gardens and other areas. Food is abundant in urban areas, where they will congregate in large numbers and usually thick flocks of them feed on the food humans discard. Due to the large numbers these birds can flock in, it’s understandable that one of the big concerns is the scale of the mess they leave behind from their droppings.

If Feral Pigeons have access to an ample food supply they can breed throughout the year, however the peak breeding season is normally between March and July.