DEFRA MINISTER Blames Over-Perception on Predation

It appears that Richard Benyon MP Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries, blames over-perception on predation of our pigeons.

ask him to keep pigeons see if likes seeing ripped to pieces

He says we are imagining it mate and just make up these stories.

he should be asked to explain what hes basing hes opinion on...it also sounds like hes a right p***k......

on the Dixon report. from 2000

get people to save the bodies of their birds and post them to him

ive got a better idea, but i just need thousands of pictures.

http://www.btinternet.com/~meridklt/raptorreport.pdf

Summary
The diet of Peregrine Falcons in south Wales

Examination of fresh prey remains at Peregrine breeding sites in south Wales

revealed that the proportion of Domestic Pigeons in the diet varied throughout the

year. Domestic Pigeons comprised a significantly greater proportion of prey remains

within the pigeon race season than outside, indicating that Racing Pigeons make up a

significant proportion of the Domestic Pigeons killed during this period. Prey remains

are likely to be biased towards species killed close to breeding sites and towards

larger, more visible prey remains, such as Domestic Pigeons.

Direct observation of prey delivered to breeding sites in May and June indicated

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that the frequency of Domestic Pigeons in prey remains was indeed higher than that

observed being delivered to nests. By applying a correction factor of 0.54 to the

frequency of Domestic Pigeons found in the prey remains sample it was possible to

obtain an estimate that more accurately reflected their observed frequency in kills

brought to the nest. Direct observation of the rate of prey delivery to nesting sites

showed that Peregrines in south Wales killed prey at a rate of 0.19 items per hour at

sites without dependent young and 0.29 per hour at sites with dependent young.

There was no consistent variation in the rate of prey delivery between broods of

different sizes and ages though the sample size was small. Using these kill rates we

were able to estimate the number of kills made at a typical breeding territory in each

month. The corrected proportion of Domestic Pigeons found in prey remains were

then used to estimate the number of Domestic Pigeons killed at a typical breeding

territory in each month. A typical territorial pair of Peregrines rearing two chicks

would kill an estimated 355 Domestic Pigeons per year. In south Wales, 92% of

Domestic Pigeons killed by Peregrines are Racing Pigeons, thus the typical breeding

pair will kill an estimated 322 Racing Pigeons each year. During the old-bird race

season, from April to June, it was estimated that breeding Peregrines kill

approximately 148 Domestic Pigeons, of which approximately 136 would be Racing

Pigeons.

An alternative method for estimating the number of Racing Pigeons killed was

also carried out using the recovery rate of rings from wing-stamped Racing Pigeons

known to have been killed at Peregrine territories. Using this method, it was

estimated that each pair or Peregrines killed a total of 65 Racing Pigeons over the oldbird

race season. There was no significant difference in the estimates derived from

the two different methods and we suggest that 0.7 to 1.6 Racing Pigeons per day is a

reasonable estimate of the kill rate at a typical breeding territory in south Wales.

Nice one thanks for that Barry Now times that by 1402 est breeding pairs it make one hell of a total mate 190672 per year, not including the sparrowhawk kills.