New York joins war on pigeons
People who feed pigeons in New York City could be fined more than $1,000 under plans designed to rid the city of the menace.
Plans for a Pigeon Tsar who would look at how cities have dealt with the problem have been put forward.
City councilman Simcha Felder called for an organised effort to ban pigeon feeding and impose a $1,000 (€685) fine on people who illegally fatten the birds.
In London, Mayor Ken Livingstone has banned pigeon feeding in Trafalgar Square, closed down the official feed vendors, and has sent hawks to infiltrate and scare the lingering pigeons.
Elsewhere, Los Angeles has begun a trial use of pigeon birth control, and in Basel, Switzerland, pigeon populations have been reduced by an approach that includes stealing their eggs and replacing them with fakes, fooling the birds into thinking they have reproduced.
On average, pigeons excrete 25lb of droppings each year.
Mr Felder said: “We have pigeons doing whatever they do all over the city without anyone trying to stop it.
“If people like pigeons, take them into their homes, feed pigeons in your house and let them crap all over the place in your living rooms.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has not endorsed a pigeon feeding ban, but said: “We do have a lot of pigeons and they do tend to foul a lot of our areas, and people would be better off not feeding the pigeons.
“Those that are here will find food and they just won’t grow at such a rapid rate and we’d all probably be better off.”
There have been other attempts to rid the city of pigeons in the past.
Electrifying their roosting areas under elevated subway tracks has had some success, but noise deterrents have not worked as well because New York City pigeons appear to be used to the noise.
A programme to use hawks in Bryant Park was also scrapped after one of the hired birds attacked a Chihuahua dog.
Mr Felder plans to introduce the feeding ban legislation within the next few weeks.
