Diet of feral pigeons (columba livia) in hawke’s bay, New Zealand

Abstract

Feral pigeons were collected throughout the year from two areas in Hawke’s Bay and their crop contents were identified and measured by volumetric displacement. In both areas peas were the most important food, accounting for 54% of the year’s diet for Havelock North birds and 60% for those at Cape Kidnappers; maize constituted 23% and 24% of the annual diet respectively. Barley, subterranean clover, ryecorn, broad beans, black nightshade berries, iceplant, earthworms, slugs, and snails were taken in smaller quantities. Feeding on newly sown peas and ryecorn could have caused economic loss, but most of the food was waste peas and maize from stubble. © 1975 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.