§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the estimated pigeon population was of(a) London and (b) the rest of England in each of the last 10 years. [139659]
§ Mr. MullinMy Department does not hold such detailed information on feral pigeon populations but I can provide a summary of the best information available.
Feral pigeons are one of the most abundant urban bird species and are also becoming increasingly common in the English countryside. Major concentrations are present in the conurbations of the south-east, west midlands and north of England. The bird's English range expanded by some 69 per cent. between the late 1960s and early 1990s, apparently due to the colonisation of rural areas in the 1970s.
Due to its secure conservation status and the difficulty of accurately surveying the high densities found in urban areas, the feral pigeon population has never been satisfactorily censused and many ornithologists ignore their presence on population monitoring plots. The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, commenced in 1994, will be the first scheme to provide adequate monitoring of the species. It may also enable us to derive a realistic population estimate, although this will be complicated by the difficulty of separating feral and semi-domesticated birds, and the fact that many thousands of birds, especially young homing pigeons, are added to the population every year.
The Breeding Bird Survey results for 1999 suggest that the English feral pigeon population has been stable in recent years, with a 3 per cent. increase on monitoring plots in the period 1994–99.
The London Bird Report for 1992 recorded "more than 2000" feral pigeons in Trafalgar Square alone. The latest issue of the London Bird Report covering 1997 states that although the overall population appears to be stable there has been a slow expansion to more rural and suburban habitats in recent decades, while at several well established sites there has been a recent increase in breeding numbers.