Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Counting on friends to live

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date23 January 2022
Publication titleDaily Star (England)
A row of half a dozen birds, purple breast feathers puffed up for extra insulation, sat patiently waiting their turn to scavenge under the bird feeders

There seems to be an unwritten agreement between the blue tits, robins, dunnocks and house sparrows that work their way through the bird food we hang out and the woodpigeons, who mop up any spilled seed that drops to the ground.

Such are the small birds' bad table manners that the pigeons seem to be getting heftier by the day. It's hardly a zoology class example of symbiosis, but certainly a mutual cooperation that works well for birds more associated with the countryside than suburbia.

Some days we have counted up to 14 woodpigeons resting in the hawthorn hedgerow in our garden, a tally exceeding that recorded by youngsters in the RSPB's Big Schools Birdwatch last January, when an average of nine of the birds were spotted per school.

The fact woodpigeons were the most numerous birds seen dotted around playing fields mirrors the way they have also become one of the most frequent visitors to the nation's gardens.

Next weekend, January 28 to 30, sees the

RSPB roll out its...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT