BB gun for pestering pigeons?

We’ve got a bird food table just outside the lounge, we get loads of robins, blackbirds, starlings, magpies and about a million sparrows on it. All of these I’m happy with, but we also get pigeons, who hoover up the contents in about 30 seconds – they’re becoming conditioned to being threatened by a feather duster, so I need to take it up a notch. Now, I don’t want to injure or even hurt them, just scare the buggers off – would a cheap BB gun do them any damage? Or anything similar that’ll give them a start but not hurt them?

I should just get used to the pigeons, shouldn’t I… 🙁

Nerf gun, or if they are wood pigeons, not the flying rat variety, leave them be

Water pistol?

Oh dear not going to end well.

Remember the flak wca got for dispatching his fluffy rats.

You have the flying variety

Seems strange that you are willing to tolerate magpies, which are rather nasty pieces of work, and want to start potting at pigeons, who are fairly harmless. Seems you only want to feed those birds that are acceptable to your standards! Can’t you arrange feeders that are only accessible to smaller birds, if you’re concerned about larger ones hoovering up the food. Crows and jackdaws can take quite a bit of food too, they’re bigger after all.
Seems to me that setting up a bird feeder then potting at some birds with a bb gun is breaking rule 1. And no, I don’t think you could do so without injuring them.

Personally, I’d start with the magpies.

You can get feeders that only work for smaller birds.

They’re quite tasty you know.

But if you’re going to feed birds, expect birds.

Any tips for keeping the blighters out of my cherry tree greatly appreciated. Last year they were doing acrobatics a squirrel would be proud of to get the ones on the skinny branches.

Put an extended roof on it, then the bigger birds won’t be able to get in?

Buy new feeders. You’re feeding them so what did you expect?

Illegal and pretty shitty as well.

Don’t do it.

But I only want to feed the pretty ones 🙁 (braces for flaming)

Interestingly, when the magpies started taking an interest, I thought they would see the pigeons off – no such luck, they give as good as they get!

Put an extended roof on it, then the bigger birds won’t be able to get in?

That’s not a bad idea – it all started with putting a bowl on the ground to feed the blackbirds, but we (predictably) started to get mice. We use an old cracked bird bath now, so mice are less of an issue, but a roof to stop pigeons (and magpies – sigh 🙁 ) getting at it might be just the job. 🙂

would a cheap BB gun do them any damage? Or anything similar that’ll give them a start but not hurt them

Have you ever been shot woth a bb pellet! It may be made of plastic but it stings alot. Now imagine it was a similar size to a golf ball..thats what it would be like for a pigeon!

Nerf gun or water pistol far better. Or just accept that if you are going to feed birds that include pigeons

Put an extended roof on it, then the bigger birds won’t be able to get in?

That’s not a bad idea – it all started with putting a bowl on the ground to feed the blackbirds, but we (predictably) started to get mice. We use an old cracked bird bath now, so mice are less of an issue, but a roof to stop pigeons (and magpies – sigh 🙁 ) getting at it might be just the job. 🙂

I hope you don’t mind handling them, they’ll still get under the roof they just won’t get out.

Bb gun is liable to do enough damage to actually injure them so not the best choice.
Nerf gun or supersoaker would get them moving but be less likely to harm them.
There are various cages you can get which would block the larger birds but can be rather ugly.

Have you ever been shot woth a bb pellet! 

I have not – never even seen one, hence the question. 🙂 Thanks for the nerf/water pistol suggestions, will consider them, a roof (and pigeon-proof gloves) and just letting them be. 🙂

Have you ever been shot woth a bb pellet! It may be made of plastic but it stings alot.

AIUI a BB gun fires steel ball bearings, that’s what “BB” stands for. What you’re describing is airsoft, no?

Make the feeders too ‘swing-y’ for a big pigeon.

Allow me to explain:

We have cats so suspending feeders out of reach was a priority – as was trying to prevent bird food reaching the ground where ground-feeding birds would be too easy a target.

So we have a length of washing line across the garden (about 8 feet off the ground). The feeders are suspended from it on hooks and away from trees. So far it has deterred most ground feeding birds and squirrels. Something had learned to jolt the feeders until they fell, but that was fixed by using short velcro straps to double secure the feeders. I also originally put small plastic plates suspended under the feeders too – to reduce food on the ground.

So we have a line of feeders that don’t attract ground feeding birds (so the cats can’t pick them off), are secure enough not to be shaken to the ground, but swing too violently for larger birds (which is not the desired effect although Jackdaws are clever enough to work out a method), but especially squirrels.

This setup took some time to develop!

I have a pigeon problem! They sit on the roof and s*** all over my conservatory roof.

Water pistol isn’t powerful enough so I just end up clapping like a madman and shouting at them, they tend to just sit there and laugh at me. I did think about some kind of acoustic device/weapon or even a starting pistol but the buggers would probably just laugh at that too,

Stones get thrown but the risk is they bounce back and through the roof.

Before anyone suggests it the roof has medieval looking spikes along the edge and the pigeon appear to think its a game to hang there arses through the gaps and over the edge of the roof. More spikes might be the answer in the long term. Or maybe chaining a cat to the roof 😉

We have a pigeon problem too. We are not feeding though, they just turn up anyway and make a big mess.
So, how about those fake hawks/ peregrine falcons with spinning heads? Like the Exorcist for pigeons and they will be scared for life and never come back? Or will they merely scoff at the ridiculous garden ornament and crack on regardless?

Or maybe chaining a cat to the roof 😉

My mum has had to save a cat sliding down their conservatory roof whilst being swooped by owls.

Cats are useless get a pine marten.

We used to have a dodgy TV ariel on the roof and whenever pigeons landed on it the TV signal went crap.

As soon as the reception started going dodgy my lad used to jump up grab a nerf gun and run out side to shoot them off. He became a bit of a crack shot but it never hurt them.

The thing for me is:

We, as a species, have ****ed up habitat for virtually every other species. So, frankly, being ‘annoyed’ by certain ‘undesirable’ species clawing out an existence from our artificial selective pressures (or even attempts to alleviate them), is a bit cuckoo. Pun intended.

My Mum ‘hates bloody sparrowhawks’ because they predate the ‘pretty little birds’ she puts feeders out for.

I had a discussion with two cub leaders on a hike and they ooohed and aaahed about how they don’t like crows because they ‘look sinister’.

🤷‍♂️

How anyone can dislike something as amazing as a sparrowhawk is beyond me.

Or will they merely scoff at the ridiculous garden ornament and crack on regardless?

They’ll work it out pretty quickly. Then they’ll use said ornament as another ‘shitting perch’. If you’ve put it on the conservatory roof it will just provide a bit more height for a larger radius of shit-splatter.

My Mum ‘hates bloody sparrowhawks’ because they predate the ‘pretty little birds’ she puts feeders out for.

Can I be honest? We’re all friends here, right…? 😉 One very much desired side-effect of attracting loads of sparrows is we do have the occasional super-stealthy visit from a sparrowhawk. Now, I don’t feed the sparrows specifically to attract them as raptor bait, but I’m very aware that it happens from time to time.

Edit- that sparrowhawk video is OMFG brilliant! 😀

What you’re describing is airsoft, no?

Strictly speaking yes but BB is often used for both variants now.

we do have the occasional super-stealthy visit from a sparrowhawk

The local one has started hanging around here more. Got a pigeon a whilst back and this week it either got or came very close to getting a starling. Feathers everywhere round the feeder.

The local one has started hanging around here more. Got a pigeon a whilst back and this week it either got or came very close to getting a starling. Feathers everywhere round the feeder.

I’d be well happy with that (especially if it resolves the pigeons issue au natural!). Seen ours maybe three times in the preceding years we’ve been here, then twice in the last couple of weeks, so fingers crossed. One time it landed on the feeder then dived into the hedge the sparrows hide in – would have killed to have a camera to hand!

Edit- that sparrowhawk video is OMFG brilliant! 😀

The bit through the gate, the spread of the tail to turn on a dime, the approach being a deliberate ‘pop-up attack’….. it is utterly transfixing.

I’ve seen one (apparently) just fly straight through a tiny tunnel in a dense conifer hedge. Obviously it was making thousandth of a second micro adjustments at pace.

CAUTION: some potentially distressing scenes – this is nature!

Sparrowhawk drowns magpie

How does it know that submerging it will kill it? Weird.

The bit through the gate, the spread of the tail to turn on a dime, the approach being a deliberate ‘pop-up attack’….. it is utterly transfixing.

How the hell did they get the shot where it turns round the tree? Or, for that matter, ANY of those shots?!? Incredible. 🙂

I’ve got a 1.5m square enclosure that I’ve netted keeps the pigeons out also keeps the crows from unhooking the feeders and breaking them

Strictly speaking yes but BB is often used for both variants now.

Fair enough. I know very little about firearms. I’ve played airsoft though, that was a lot of fun until the Johnny Rambo types turned up with full auto guns dialled up to a gnat’s cock below maximum legal power.

want to start potting at pigeons, who are fairly harmless.

Not really harmless. Pigeon have ticks, loads of ticks and their dry poop tend to turn into dust. Dust that caries really bad stuff straight into your orifices and lungs.

Cheers!
I.

We’ve had plenty of sparrow hawk visits to the feeders in our garden. Both male and female

Some we are lucky enough to see, they are so driven and aggressive its mesmerizing.

We had a young male in who missed his attack but hung around for 20 mins in the garden, that was special

@ivanmtb

Out of all the things likely to kill me I’d not put pigeons on my list tbf….

Sure thing, what flows your way, but stating pigeons are harmless is not true.

Cheers!
I.

OP, get a feeder that only wee birds can use, the wee birds will make a mess and the pigeons will hoover the mess up, but then again so will teh dunnocks and black birds.

we havea sparrowhawk that frequents the garden, flys up the drive, pops over the gate and fence, back down, banks right then left round teh garage, up the lawn and boom catches a sparrow off the feeder. we don’t have a big garden so this all happens lightning fast.

I’ve also seen one fly over the road in front of teh car in front of me, snatch a robin on the wing then cross back over the road in front of me.

Pretty impressive beasties

AIUI a BB gun fires steel ball bearings, that’s what “BB” stands for.

@Cougar
actually no, although most people probably assume this is what it means as they do superficially resemble bearing balls (not “ball bearings” which is the complete bearing assembly including the races rather than just the balls, another very common error 😉)

It’s derived from the type of lead shot used for shotguns which it’s very similar in size to (there’s also B and BBB among many others!)… I’ve seen it suggested that it might stand for “bulleted breech” but there’s no consensus and I think what it really stands for has been long-forgotten, if it ever even stood for anything at all!

Sounds like a reasonable plan to me, just test it first by shooting yourself in the face when you’re feeling  hungry. If you’re still alive but no longer worrying about being a bit peckish then you’ve proved it’s a good deterrent

OMG, a hotbed, a nest of bird racists!