Annoying pigeon breeders

Flock off.
Their products are cheap and works very well. Barnsley council use it a lot.

If you've got a good pitching arm, and fairly decent aim then your answer would be ice cubes. Keep a small bucket of loose ice cubes ready in the freezer.

My dear departed father had a terrible problem with pigeons messing the balcony in the apartment where he lived. The whole area was experiencing the problem and couldn't figure a way to resolve it until I suggested that he pelt them with ice cubes whenever they roosted anywhere nearby.

Why ice cubes? Simple, ice cubes break on impact, so unless you score a direct hit on a glass window they're not going to damage anything.

Does it work? Sure does... pigeons are very intelligent, learn quickly and have fantastic memories. This is in the wild, so it's exactly why many people breed them. They remember and avoid areas where they're unsafe or uncomfortable. Being constantly bombarded by ice cubes will keep them away since they do flock together you don't need to target every last one, just the ones who come around, the rest will keep their distance naturally.

While my father passed away many years ago now, to my knowledge pigeons still avoid going anywhere near the building where he lived.

..............

If you have philosophical problems with trying to take ice pot shots at the little devils, you might want to see if you can find owl decoys. Not sure if they're available there, but in many countries you can purchase  plastic or paper mache replica owls and you probably can purchase them online, they scare off other birds. Set them out on the roof and see if that works for you.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Oh, and you don't have to score a direct hit on the pigeons either, just get close enough to scare them. The ice cube will shatter, make a loud noise when it hits something solid and that's enough to do the trick. After a few weeks you'll probably never see another pigeon around again. If they do come back in the future, then give 'em the "cold shoulder" treatment again. 

Excellent advice James, thank you!! I do like Fred's suggestion as well however not sure if we are allowed to place something like that on our terrace or roof as tenants. My guess is the landlord won't like it.

The ice cubes are easy to do (just bought 3 ice cube trays yesterday for the upcoming summer - what a coincidence!) and can't be traced back to us easily since the 'evidence' will be gone by the time the breeders get suspicious

I'm also wondering if it's the pigeons themselves choosing the route or if the breeder trains them to fly a certain way. They seem to be doing the same rounds just from different directions, sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

Well, if they're domestic homing pigeons they are extremely sensitive to the earth's magnetic force and it's like a radio beacon for aircraft and leads them directly home. You're probably directly on their usual flight path. That is the beauty of the ice cube trick since you represent a "danger" to them and they'll seek an alternate route before too long.

You're right, no evidence - no crime! The prosecution always hates it when their physical evidence evaporates. 

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Thanks for the explanation! We will definitely try it out this weekend, I make sure to report back soon with the results