Robin Repeatedly Attacks Pigeon On Birdtable (1 Viewer)

[naturistbird]

A strange thing happened today at lunchtime. I had placed a very large piece of wood horizontally over a high stool on the lawn and covered the wood with different foods...bread,peanuts and wild bird seed. A robin was the first to investigate; he had no trouble in nipping down and helping himself; next came 2 Magpies who ate the mixture speedily. A pigeon was watching with interest and you could tell he wanted to land on the wood but was uncertain. Eventually he picked up courage and began eating voraciously. Seeing him esconsed on the new feeding table the robin began to attack the pigeon as he feasted...at least 8 separate times...when he bodily banged into the large body of the pigeon before flying away, to return seconds later. Seeing his distress, I shooed the pigeon away, leaving the robin to feed uninterrupted, but he had now lost interest. It seemed that my new feeding table top had now become part of the robin's territory which he was prepared to defend against larger members of the birding population.
Has anyone else experienced such interesting behaviour?

 

[KLH]

It is usually the pigeons that do the bullying in our garden! We have a robin, but haven't noticed if there is any conflict, although it usually has plenty to say to neighbouring robins, ticking in the bushes at everyone!

 

[bitterntwisted]

I have a Robin which in the last couple of weeks has taken over one of my feeders and is seeing off allcomers. Nothing as big as a pigeon but the tits, blackcaps, bullfinches etc. have been forced away.

Graham

 

[KLH]

Robins are very territorial birds, although I have always thought that it just applied to other robins, ours seems to mix okwith the other birds, most of which are bigger. Just looked out of the window and he (or she) is hopping around the bottom of the bird table. A great tit on the feeder, a couple of dunnocks on the table and a magpie skulking about nearby. Robin doesn't seem bothered. Oh, and a couple of woodpigeons pecking around on the lawn (or what passes for one!!)

 

[A CHAPLIN]

Hi,

Strange coincidence I have just been watching a Robin trying to chase a grey squirrel that was investigating the feeders in the tree. The Robin flew at the squirrel repeatedly but when the squirrel went on to the birdtable next to the tree the Robin lost interest although it does use the table on occasions. Yet I have never seen it do this with any of the other birds large or small apart from Dunnocks, which seems a thing with Robins, sorry don't know how else to put that.

Ann :egghead:

 

[naturistbird]

I went to Shipton Bellinger area today to look for white tailed eagle and whilst walking along I came across a group of about 20 Robins all flying around together and seemingly to get on well! I thought they were territorial birds and chased each other away. Not so in this little corner of Hants where "togetherness" was the watchword.Might the cold weather have something to do with this?

 

[Marmot]

Had more or less the same happened today but with a Blackbird against 2 Woodpigeons. The Woodpigeons were on the ground underneath a feeder that a Collared Dove was using. The WP were enjoying eating the bits up that the CD was knocking out of the feeder. A male Blackbird who obviously could not be bothered to walk under a bush to get past them started doing something resembling kung fu kicks on the pair of them to get them out the way. As a result one of the WP almost fell over and the other just scooted out the way, the Blackbird then carried on to the other side of the garden as if nothing had happened.

 

[naturistbird]

Now pigeons have taken over bird table!

 

[KLH]

We started off with around 2 0r 3 woodpigeons, there are about 10 now!!

 

[razorsharp]

The robin in my garden only ever attacks house sparrows and nothing else, it is a bit strange.