by Ryan Ponto | May 17, 2017 | Bird Netting
NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — Too many pigeons in downtown Nampa have been causing problems for the area’s buildings and patrons.
The urban renewal agency recently approved a plan to allow a city resident to live-trap the pigeons for free, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported.
The birds’ poop is the main concern, said Randy Haverfield, chairman of the agency.
“It’s something to be concerned about,” Haverfield said. “We just need to get (them) under control.”
The poop damages rooftops’ paint and exterior surfaces, said Brian Foster, city facilities management superintendent. The amount is also a health risk to employees performing maintenance on the roofs, he said.
Air is filtered into the city’s library, but the massive amounts of poop on its roof could contain hazardous bacteria.
About 30 pigeons currently occupy the library’s roof. Foster said he has seen that number increase to 60 pigeons.
The resident who will be trapping the birds, Tim Ault, used to trap them in the 1980s when they were a problem downtown. Nampa Mayor Bob Henry vouched for his expertise.
“We’ve got a real problem, and he’s very successful with what he does,” Henry said.
Ault would use the pigeons he traps for dog training, Henry said.
The city has looked into netting to guard the building from the birds, but officials said that could block maintenance work to the structure and would cost about $10,000.
In previous years, the city put spike strips on the parking garage, which is another choice spot for pigeons.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | May 16, 2017 | Bird Netting
To start off this article, both scientists and the internet are unsure if this picture is real. However, police are reporting that birds made a nest out of hypodermic needles in Canada.
Michelle Davey, who is a Canadian Vancouver Police Superintendent tweeted the photo that has been making its rounds on the internet.
The picture shows a dirty sink that is filled with, what appears to be, used hypodermic needles. Laying on top of the syringes are three bleach-white eggs. The caption to the tweet reads “Pigeons spotted making a nest out of #needles in a #DTES SRO room. Sad reality of the #opioidcrisis #fentanyl #frontline #notstaged.”
According to Huffington Post, Police Sgt. Randy Fincham stated that the photo “was snapped by the department’s former homeless outreach coordinator while inspecting empty single-room occupancy housing.” Davey shared the photo on social media hoping to gain awareness to the city’s growing drug problem.
Fincham also told Huffington Post that “the image was also shared to start a conversation – a conversation about the harm-reduction efforts of first responders, and the need for treatment options for substance users.”
However, even though the photo is hoping to start a conversation, it seems like some are using it to question if it was all staged. Rita McMahon, director of the Wild Bird Fund wildlife rehabilitation center in New York City told Huffington Post that “Well, it could be [real], but I don’t think it is.”
McMahon went on to state that pigeons typically lay only two eggs. When they are making a nest, the bird would gather a series of items and not just use one.
The National Audubon Society is currently investigating the photo in order to see if it real. Regardless of what bird experts have to say about the image, the Vancouver Police Department still states that it is genuine.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | May 15, 2017 | Bird Netting
A picture of a pigeons’ nest made entirely from used syringes has been shared by police in the Canadian city of Vancouver to highlight its drug crisis but experts have questioned its authenticity.
Shared on social media by Superintendent Michelle Davey, she said it had been found in a single room occupancy in the Downtown Eastside area of the city, The Independent reported.
She described the image as reflecting the “sad reality of the opioid crisis” in the city.
She also added “#notstaged”—a claim disputed by some social media users who have said it is a hoax.
Luc-Alain Giraldeau, a scientist at l’Universite du Quebec a Montreal, told the National Post newspaper that he was certain the image did not show a real pigeons’ nest.
He said it contained too many eggs as pigeons usually only lay two at a time. He added that it lacks the thick coat of pigeon feces that the birds typically use to keep their eggs warm. Pigeon nests are “always constructed on a flat surface”, he said.
He declared: “This cannot be a pigeon nest.”
Marion Chatelain, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Warsaw specializing in the urbanization of wildlife, agreed.
“To the best of my knowledge, feral pigeons do not use human wastes to build their nest,” she wrote in an email to the National Post, adding that it is very peculiar to see more than two eggs in a nest.
Nathaniel Wheelwright, a veteran bird biologist at Maine’s Bowdoin College, told the newspaper, “My first reaction was that it looks faked.”
However he added: “But then pigeons do build flimsy platform nests of thick twigs and house wrens sometimes nest in bags of nails. So, it could be.”
Regardless of the authenticity of the image, it has served to draw international attention to the city’s problem with prescription opioid abuse.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | May 14, 2017 | Bird Netting
Bird strikes can cause costly damage at airports and are dangerous to aircraft, and the effect of a collision with an aircraft can even be fatal.
But a Canadian airport hopes to resolve this problem by using ‘Robird’ – a drone that mimics the flight of a falcon.
The lifelike falcon drone can be used to chase off birds, convincing them that it’s a real life predator.
The Robird will scare real birds away from Edmonton International Airport, Canada’s largest airport in terms of surface area, starting at the end of May.
Flocks in the vicinity will be scared off by the combination of silhouette and wing movement.
In essence, the manufacturers say, the birds believe that one of their natural enemies is eyeing them up, as the Robird has the appearance and weight of a real falcon.
Robird – which is propelled by flapping wings – will has already been tested at Dusseldorf Weeze airport in Germany to help protect aircraft as they take off and land.
‘This is a historic step for the Robird and our company,’ says Nico Nijenhuis, the CEO of Clear Flight Solutions, a spin-off company of the University of Twente in the Netherlands that produces the Robird.
‘We currently operate our Robirds in a variety of places, but taking the step towards full integration within daily operations at an airport is huge.
‘For years, there has been a lot of interest from airports.
‘To now officially start integrating our operations at a major Canadian airport is absolutely fantastic.’
The Robird will become part of a large-scale drone project at Edmonton Airport, which includes using drones to observe wildlife, inspect buildings and take 3-D measurements.
Currently, Edmonton Airport uses sound effects and lasers to keep birds away, nut the problem with existing bird control solutions is that birds get used to them, and quickly learn to fly around them.
So Clear Flight Solutions has been looking at how the Robird can be combined with these techniques to reinforce one another.
For the first three months, the Robird’s effectiveness at keeping birds away will be carefully monitored, and the project further optimized.
There will also be consultations with pilots and airline companies who need to become familiar with the procedures surrounding the robotic bird.
Birds are also a problem for the agricultural industry, waste disposal, ports and the oil as gas industry, and the Robird could help those sectors too.
‘The applications to an ecologically friendly and impactful technology such as the Robird are huge,’ said Jordan Cicoria from Aerium, a Canadian company that is collaborating with Clear Flight Solutions for the Robird project.
‘Airports, tailings ponds, wind farms, agriculture to name a few.
‘The results are real in terms of safety, environment, and economics.’
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | May 13, 2017 | Bird Netting
Canada’s Edmonton International Airport (EIA) has deployed a full suite of unmanned aerial system (UAS) services to enhance its daily operations.
Beginning in the second quarter of 2017, bird control service provider Clear Flight Solutions (CFS) and ‘UAV-as-a-service’ provider AERIUM Analytics will focus on safely incorporating Robird and integrated drone technology at the airport.
The UAS solutions will be integrated to improve EIA’s wildlife management plan, while ensuring continued growth of the Edmonton Metro Region’s ‘aerotropolis’.
CFS’s Robird technology will guide birds safely away from air traffic, while ensuring that they do not nest near airside operations and glide paths.
Robird is a proven technology that offers effective, ecologically friendly solution for bird control.
The robotic system imitates the flight of an actual falcon and easily convinces other birds of the presence of a predator in the area.
“We currently operate our Robirds in a variety of places, but taking the step towards full integration within daily operations at an airport is huge.”
CFS chief executive officer Nico Nijenhuis said: “We currently operate our Robirds in a variety of places, but taking the step towards full integration within daily operations at an airport is huge.
“For years, there has been a lot of interest from airports. To now officially start integrating our operations at a major Canadian airport is absolutely fantastic.”
As part of the deployment, CFS AERIUM will provide UAS mapping and inspections services to help EIA in its maintenance programmes and future economic development efforts.
The UAS missions, which were conducted under tight supervision within 400m of active runways, have already proven competency and met safety and hazard identification risk assessment requirements.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
