As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

I loathe pigeons! They're ugly, stupid bullies says RACHEL BILLINGTON. And they're taking over our gardens

Sightings of pigeons in gardens has increased by 743 per cent in 35 years
Robins have reduced their cheeky, inquisitive appearances by 45 per cent
According to the RSPB, there are 5,400,000 breeding pairs of wood pigeons in the UK


PUBLISHED: 01:26, 31 March 2014 | UPDATED: 01:26, 31 March 2014

Shocking news: That enchanting friend of the British gardener, the robin, is disappearing and an insalubrious monster, the pigeon, is taking over.

If you do not believe me, just look at the figures from last week’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch survey.

In the past 35 years, sightings of pigeons in our gardens has increased sevenfold, or a horrible 743 per cent, while robins have reduced their cheeky, inquisitive appearances by 45 per cent.

I suppose there’s someone who welcomes a pigeon into their garden. Probably the same person who feeds them in Trafalgar Square before retiring out of range.

But the truth is, pigeons are stupid, irritating, destructive and ugly.

The ugly part is worth pursuing because, objectively, they should be rather handsome — imagine one stuffed and put into a glass case, with its tightly packed blueish-grey feathers, its smart white collar and pink-tinged waistcoat. In life, however, they somehow end up being quite hideous.




So are a lot of humans my dear 


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