# Surging Global Pigeon Count Vexes Cities



## Bond James Bond (Aug 23, 2002)

http://www.businessweek.com/globalb...?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business

November 6, 2007, 12:53PM EST text size: TT
*Surging Global Pigeon Count Vexes Cities
Over the years, cities have tried imaginative techniques to cull the disease-carrying birds. Best way: stop feeding them*

The pigeon is a heavenly symbol of peace, love and purity but it also produces 12 kilos of excrement a year and is widely decried as a flying rat that soils facades and spreads disease in cities all over the world.

Scientists, city officials and animal welfare activists met in the western German city of Essen on Tuesday for Germany's first Town Pigeon Conference to discuss how to deal with the growing pigeon population which is expected to rise by around 50 million to up to 400 million worldwide in the next 10 years as a result of growing urbanization.

The pigeon derives from the rock dove and was one of the first animals to be domesticated, some 10,000 years ago, in the Middle East. There are around 300 varieties of the bird. It was initially bred to be eaten, and its excrement, guano, was a prized fertilizer.

The inconspicuous gray bird with a fatty neck has adapted better to life in urban public areas than any other animal, and its presence is truly global.

There are around one million of them in New York, and Venice has the highest pigeon density with an estimated three birds per human inhabitant. In most big European towns, there is around one pigeon for every 20 citizens.

"Pigeons have had a gigantic career as a symbol of love, of marital fidelity, of peace," Professor Daniel Haag-Wackernagel, a biologist at the University of Basel who has studied pigeons for decades, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Historically it has such a positive, heavenly image that killing the bird is still regarded as immoral and unethical by many."

Throughout history, pigeons have found plentiful food close to where humans live, either by being fed directly or eating spilt horse feed, or by picking up rubbish that had gathered in the cracks of the cobblestones that were commonplace in medieval European towns, said Haag-Wackernagel.

*From Poisoning to "Electric Chairs"*

Their population exploded in the 20th century as food became ever cheaper in relation to personal income. The bird is supremely adaptable, finding breeding places in all kinds of unnatural locations ranging from air conditioning vents to warm satellite dishes. Their diet, originally grain-based, has also evolved and town pigeons now eat virtually everything from discarded beef burgers to human vomit.

Major cities have been trying to reduce their pigeon populations since the early 20th century and have resorted to a colourful variety of methods including straight poisoning, shooting, firing nets over flocks with rockets, blasting them with salt pellets and even by means of an "electric chair:" placing food on a high-voltage metal platform to fry the birds alive.

Contraception pills have also been attempted, but they can poison other animals. "Scaring" is another method - London has resorted to Harris hawks and loud megaphones to drive pigeons away from Trafalgar Square. But that technique just moves them to other parts of the city. London has also started fining people for feeding pigeons in the square.

"Killing makes no sense at all," says Haag-Wackernagel. "The birds have an enormous reproduction capacity and they'll just come back. There is a linear relationship between the bird population and the amount of food available." A pair of pigeons can produce up to 12 fledglings per year.

"The best way to reduce the population is not to feed them. People say it's cruel to deprive them of food but in the wild the sudden absence of food is a completely natural occurrence and animals adapt to it."

*Less Food, Fewer Pigeons*

Haag-Wackernagel developed a scheme for the city of Basel in the 1980s which resulted in a decline in the pigeon population by two thirds in four years. "We launched a campaign to persuade people not to feed the birds. We never put a ban on feeding because that always creates martyrs. We think you have to convince people."

The scheme included setting up nine pigeon lofts in the attics of churches and schools where breeding boxes were installed. "We didn't feed them there and we took some of their eggs away," said Haag-Wackernagel. Depriving pigeons of food also slows down their reproduction because it forces them to devote more time looking for food rather than breed, he said.

The western German town of Moers has come up with a less rigorous scheme. For the past three years it has been recruiting unemployed people as "Pigeon Wardens" to construct and clean out public pigeon coops and feed the animals.

Pigeons still enjoy a considerably better reputation than rats, which suffered a lasting PR setback by spreading the Black Death.

But the birds can and do spread diseases, allergies and parasites to humans. Haag-Wackernagel says many everyday illnesses including allergies can be attributed to human proximity to the birds which carry salmonella, lung illnesses, fleas, ticks and a host of other ailments -- something to think about when surrounded by flapping pigeons in town squares or outdoor cafes.

Pregnant women, children, the elderly and people infected with HIV are particularly at risk from contact with pigeons, said Haag-Wackernagel.

Reducing pigeon populations also gives the birds a better quality of life -- less stress and less cramped living conditions, says Haag-Wackernagel. But die-hard pigeon-fanciers remain unconvinced. "One man in Basel kept on feeding pigeons between 12 and 15 tons of pigeon food per year until he died aged 89."


----------



## Architek (Oct 20, 2006)

sorry but hahahahaha!, wasn't there an article longtime ago about nimby's fighting for the rights of pigeon that kept flying into skyscrapers saying it was immoral, i say we build more glass skyscrapers....whoa


----------



## Xelebes (Apr 1, 2007)

Haha! Headline reads like a SimCity ticker tape.

But yeah... time to reprimand the retired and bored?


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Good that we don't see pigeons lurking around in Hong Kong .. although some larger birds like hawks do fly above the streets, but rarely descend for a landing.


----------



## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Xelebes said:


> Haha! Headline reads like a SimCity ticker tape.


:lol:


----------



## Jaeger (May 11, 2006)




----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Sinking under a tide of pigeons, Venice acts to save its statues *
9 May 2008
International Herald Tribune

VENICE -- All it takes is a handful of birdseed to transform any tourist visiting Venice's historic St. Mark's Square into a human perch for a fluttering mass of pushy pigeons.

But a Venetian pigeon's life may now be for the birds: A municipal ordinance banning people from feeding them in the square went into effect May 1.

Especially ruffled are the 19 vendors licensed to sell birdseed in the square, who are out of a job. ''It's a tradition,'' said one vendor who, like most others, declined to give his name. ''It's like removing Rialto or the Bridge of Sighs.''

When Venetian officials first voted to outlaw pigeon feeding 11 years ago, the area of St. Mark's was exempted because of the iconic status of the birds and their feeders. But it ultimately became clear that for any real reduction in the bird population, an important food supply - St. Mark's official birdseed hawkers - had to be cut off.

The vendors fear the city's decision will put an end to a century-old tradition.

''Children are crying because they can't feed the birds,'' said another ruddy-faced vendor. Actually, children last Sunday seemed pretty content, having substituted potato chips and bread sticks for the now verboten birdseed. The pigeons did not seem to mind the change in diet either.

Since the edict went into effect, the local police have been discreetly discouraging tourists from feeding the pigeons without handing out fines - for the moment.

Like other metropolises with a significant pigeon population, including New York and London, Venice has long been concerned with the potential hazards the birds pose to human health, not to mention the damage caused by their guano and taste for marble. Previous efforts to control their numbers - nets, spikes and electronic contraptions to deter perching - have been mostly unsuccessful.

What has made the situation particularly drastic in Venice is the spiraling number of tourists - about 20 million a year by official estimates - which has triggered a whole new law of nature: More tourists equals more birdseed sold and more garbage produced. That equals more pigeons and more damage to the historic buildings in the square, including the delicate mosaics on the façade of St. Mark's Basilica.

Sergio Lafisca, the Venice health expert responsible for the Department of Prevention, estimates that there are now about 130,000 pigeons living in Venice's historic center, about 40 times the number that he said international studies propose as the optimal concentration per square kilometer. ''Even locusts are cute on their own, but then read what the Bible says about invasions,'' he said.

Tests on the birds have also determined that many carry one pathogen or another. ''It's easy to imagine why we're concerned,'' he said.

The monuments on the square are bearing the brunt of the invasion. Pigeons usually do not sleep where they eat, but the certainty of a 24/7 feeding frenzy has induced many to make St. Mark's their year-round home, setting up nests among elegant cornices or in other fragile spots. As a result, the statues on the facades are now cobwebbed with dozens of fine scratch marks from where the pigeons try to grip onto the statues to roost.

And pigeons, like chickens, seek calcium carbonate for their eggs.

''They peck at the most exposed parts of the marble,'' as well as the stucco that restorers use in their work, said Renata Codello, the state art official charged with preserving the square. She flipped through a series of photographs of pockmarked statuary.

''I have nothing against pigeons,'' Codello insisted, though she said the birds cause ''immense damage.'' This costs taxpayers from €16 to €23 a pigeon a year in cleanup costs, according to a report by the Italian economic research institute Nomisma.

In the end, only one strategy has ever really worked to keep the pigeon population down in Venice. ''Until the 1950s they used to eat them. I'm told they're very tasty,'' Lafisca said. But he would not advocate eating pigeon meat today because the birds are too sickly and small. Nor would he allow his son to pose for photos with pigeons on his head.

City officials are now negotiating with the vendors to give them alternative jobs or a cash buyout.

The vendors, for their part, want City Hall to back down and are circulating a petition among tourists that they say already has hundreds of signatures. Venetians are less likely to sign. The locals tend to see pigeons much as Woody Allen once described them - as ''rats with wings.''

For some vendors, the writing is on the wall.

''I'm afraid it's over,'' said Rosanna Ribul, a vendor whose grandfather was given one of the first licenses in the square 90 years ago. She spoke of dozens of people who regularly sought her out bearing photographs taken long ago when they were children, or on their honeymoon, and she'd sold them birdseed. ''They ask me, do you remember? But I never do.''


----------



## spongeg (May 1, 2006)

there was a story on cnn last week - people pay hundreds of dollars for pigeon poop facials


----------



## djm19 (Jan 3, 2005)

Here in los angeles we are feeding pigeons birth control in bird feeders. The areas with the feeders have seen a dramatic dwindling in the numbers of pigeons.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/06/pigeon-populati.html


----------



## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

"Good that we don't see pigeons lurking around in Hong Kong .. although some larger birds like hawks do fly above the streets, but rarely descend for a landing."

That's because they know better. The Chinese will eat pigeon in a heartbeat.


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

philadweller said:


> "Good that we don't see pigeons lurking around in Hong Kong .. although some larger birds like hawks do fly above the streets, but rarely descend for a landing."
> 
> That's because they know better. The Chinese will eat pigeon in a heartbeat.


Have never seen that on my menu. The most exotic I see in HK are snakes, which are quite good especially in the winter.


----------



## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Snankes in Winter? Why better in Winter? Sounds yummy.


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

philadweller said:


> Snankes in Winter? Why better in Winter? Sounds yummy.


Snake soup is supposed to warm up the body to help beat the cold.


----------



## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

philadweller said:


> "Good that we don't see pigeons lurking around in Hong Kong .. although some larger birds like hawks do fly above the streets, but rarely descend for a landing."
> 
> That's because they know better. The Chinese will eat pigeon in a heartbeat.


Actually, Wood Pigeon used to be considered a delicacy in Britain! It's still eaten now in fact.


----------



## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

Around here in central North America, peregrine falcons and red-tailed hawks are both very effective at keeping pigeons at bay. And both LOVE nesting on tall buildings.

Mike


----------



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Yeah, pigeon is quite tasty, you see it occasionally on menus here but I don't think it's the feral diseased street pigeons, at least I hope it isn't :laugh:

Pigeon recipes


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

retracted


----------



## ChinaboyUSA (May 10, 2005)

fostering is a human nature, it seems that you make it as a western philosophy.


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

^^ dishin' up a human outta some downed hno: rat? would it lord land?


----------



## Scion (Apr 26, 2008)

Apparently if you feed Panadol to the pigeons, they explode...


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

:sly:​


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

(delete post, wrong thread)


----------



## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

trainrover said:


> :sly:​


Sometimes it takes just one short video to tell a truly remarkable story. 

Clearly our feathered friend spent a considerable deal of time deliberating the alternatives. Obviously he made the right choice given that the train doors were not doubt about to slam shut. Either trapping the pigeon inside, or rather worse. 

Another reminder of why birds have gazed down on their planet earth for something like 80 million years. And the odds are they'll be here long after our species has self-destructed.


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Hmm ... I wonder if humans lead by example by either feeding 'em or trashing the carriage  I can't tell if the filmer frightened it or if it suspected its cue by the announcement over the PA.

:hug: Wasn't it so cute, how it interacted with the camera toward the end? :hug:


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Yesterday's







:
_Pigeon warning_​


----------



## zaphod (Dec 8, 2005)

It's odd that people feed them. I mean, people don't feed rats, do they?


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

I grit my teeth whenever I see people feeding wildlife.


----------



## BE0GRAD (May 29, 2010)

Why not simply stimulate falconry to balance their demographics?


----------



## xerxesjc28 (Mar 3, 2008)

trainrover said:


> I grit my teeth whenever I see people feeding wildlife.


What about people who feed wild cats.


----------



## Sarcasticity (May 21, 2005)

I think Asian cities in general have a lower pigeon count than western cities. In Manila, although there are pigeons, you don't really see them everywhere like I do here in NYC. People here in NYC feed those pigeons. Wasn't there a study that NYC pigeons were the fattest?


----------



## Ocean Railroader (Jun 18, 2011)

Virginia has a lot of Hawks living in it and you will see several of them a day hanging out in the city and building nests and the people in my city love them and put up bird cams to watch them and love to have them on their buildings. What they could do is bring over several dozen Hawks into the city of Venice and see what happens.


----------



## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

:rofl:


trainrover said:


> :uh:​


Pigeons appear to have evolved into fare evaders, skip to 40'52" (chapter starts at 39'48"). 

Entire chapter featuring city pigeons starts at 9'39".


----------

