White Pigeon
PIGEON FLIES
Have you ever seen a row of holes on a pigeon's flight feather? These are caused by a special type of fly called Pseudolynchia canariensis. The adults live on the body of the bird, scurrying between the feathers. They are blood suckers, with their bites causing pain, irritation and restlessness. They will insert their feeding tube into a blood-filled growing feather follicle to feed. As this feather unfurls, the tunnel created by the feeding tube unravels into a series of holes.
The flies lay their eggs on accumulated pigeon droppings and their maggots develop here. Fly numbers are highest during the warmer months when the birds are breeding when they can bite nestlings and breed in the droppings around nest bowls. Interestingly, the saliva of the adult flies gives the nestlings diarrhoea, which makes it easier for the maggots to survive.
Treatment
On-going hygiene and efficient disposal of droppings (remembering that accumulated droppings below a grid floor or piled in the garden near the loft can serve as breeding grounds) will do much to control the problem. However if necessary, any flies on the birds can be killed by either spraying the birds with Permethrin or treating them with a 24-hour course of Moxidectin. Coupling this with spraying the loft with Permethrin, particularly before breeding, will solve the problem.
Have you ever seen a row of holes on a pigeon's flight feather? These are caused by a special type of fly called Pseudolynchia canariensis. The adults live on the body of the bird, scurrying between the feathers. They are blood suckers, with their bites causing pain, irritation and restlessness. They will insert their feeding tube into a blood-filled growing feather follicle to feed. As this feather unfurls, the tunnel created by the feeding tube unravels into a series of holes.
The flies lay their eggs on accumulated pigeon droppings and their maggots develop here. Fly numbers are highest during the warmer months when the birds are breeding when they can bite nestlings and breed in the droppings around nest bowls. Interestingly, the saliva of the adult flies gives the nestlings diarrhoea, which makes it easier for the maggots to survive.
Treatment
On-going hygiene and efficient disposal of droppings (remembering that accumulated droppings below a grid floor or piled in the garden near the loft can serve as breeding grounds) will do much to control the problem. However if necessary, any flies on the birds can be killed by either spraying the birds with Permethrin or treating them with a 24-hour course of Moxidectin. Coupling this with spraying the loft with Permethrin, particularly before breeding, will solve the problem.
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