Speckled Pigeon (Formerly Rock Pigeon)

Scientific name Columba guinea Afrikaans name Kransduif

- Koos Pieters

Being an ardent nature lover with a greater than average love for birds, I find it to be quite a paradox within myself that there are certain bird species I actually dislike. I respect their right to life, and I am often fascinated by their specific skills and even their good looks, but deep down I dislike some of the things they do, and often I wish that they would go away.

It helps if they are exotic, because then I think that other people also wish them away; but it creates total turmoil within me when they are endemic, and when they become a nuisance mainly because of us humans and our ever-growing occupation of available land.