MADRID — The Spanish city of Cádiz will undertake what some may see as a Sisyphean task: relocating 5,000 pigeons hundreds of miles away after a complaint that the birds are driving away tourists from the terraces of cafes in the most visited part of the southern port city.
Carrier pigeons probably date back to ancient Persia. But under a plan announced last month by Cádiz officials, the pigeons themselves will be carried: They will be captured and transported next year to a thinly populated countryside location in eastern Spain. There, they will find a new home in a dovecote near the town of Ribarroja del Turia.
The exile solution to pigeon overcrowding is being presented as a more animal-friendly approach than that taken in other places, where pigeons are treated like flying rats to be culled or fed contraceptive pills that may also be consumed by other species.
The city will use “the most respectful and sustainable method” to keep its pigeon population under control, Álvaro de la Fuente, the city official in charge of environmental policy, said in a statement.
The city came up with the plan after Horeca, a regional federation of hoteliers, complained two years ago that the pigeons were menacing tourists, particularly in the city’s emblematic cathedral square.
“When the pigeon gets hungry, it can get very forceful and often doesn’t even wait for the tourists to leave their table to go for their food,” said Antonio De María Ceballos, a restaurant owner and the president of Horeca.
Horeca also argued that pigeon excrement presents a health risk for waiters and other employees who have to clean pigeon-occupied dining and drinking areas.
The risk, Mr. De María Ceballos said, was confirmed last year by a court ruling in Catalonia that upheld the disability claim of a Barcelona tourism official who said that she contracted pulmonary fibrosis from exposure to floating particles of bird excrement while working in pigeon-filled city squares.
“Nobody here has anything against pigeons or other animals, but something must be done when they proliferate to the point of presenting a health risk,” said Mr. De María Ceballos.
The city hopes to carry out the relocation next year. The 5,000 or so pigeons will have to be trapped and undergo health checks before they are transported and released in eastern Spain, about 375 miles from Cádiz. The hope is that the highly adaptable rock pigeons will be happy to resettle there rather than be tempted to make the return flight.
Mr. de la Fuente, the city official, is also calling on residents to play their part and stop overfeeding pigeons.
He argued that fighting pigeon overpopulation can also helped avoid the spread of “other plagues like rodents.”
City Hall will distribute 3,000 leaflets about how to deal with pigeons, hoping to educate rather than fine its residents for overindulging the birds.
In London, under legislation adopted a decade ago, people risk a fine of as much as 500 pounds ($636) for feeding pigeons around Trafalgar Square.
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Strategic retreat is sometimes the best offense. Citizens of Hyderabad are doing just that as ballooning pigeon population has taken over the city. “We are shelling out ₹2,000 per apartment to get the netting done. As we have 90 apartments, we have bargained the price down to ₹ 9 per sq ft,” says G. Ravi Kiran, a resident of an apartment complex in Hyderguda. “We have been forced to go for the netting as almost all the surrounding apartments have fixed the mesh which has lead to a rise in the number of pigeons frequenting our apartment,” he says. While feeding places have multiplied throughout the city over the past few years, more and more pigeons are taking over unlikely roosting places. “We found a pair and a small chick on the V-junction of a drainage pipe. There was almost no nest except a few sticks,” says Nirmala K., who lives in an apartment complex in Rama Krishna Nagar.
This panic is turning out to be a money-spinner for a clutch of entrepreneurs who have created a business opportunity by covering balconies, ventilator shafts and common areas with pigeon netting. “We are using nets with 40 mm holes to keep out pigeons. The demand is high. We have already covered about 1,000 apartment blocks over the past two years,” says Maitresety Madhav, who took up netting business three years ago.
“If netting is with 1.5 mm thread, the guarantee is for three years and if it is 2.5 mm thread, we guarantee it for seven years,” informs Mr. Madhav.
“I worked in Bengaluru for two years and have set up my own operations in Hyderabad now. We have even covered a temple with pigeon netting,” says Salman Raju, who says the cost varies according to the thickness of the thread.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is caught out of the game, as the feeding spots have sprouted all over the city. From a traffic island at Ameerpet to a parking spot at Masab Tank to the disused Mussalam Jung Bridge in the old city, pigeon feeding spots have multiplied.
“We have put signages in bigger parks, but people still feed pigeons in smaller parks. We are trying to tell people not to stop feeding pigeons,” said an official from Urban Biodiversity wing of the GHMC.
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When a scruffy pigeon first flew onto the Germscheid family ranch near Entwistle, Greg didn’t know what to think.
“He looked so terrible when he came here,” the rancher recalled of Sept. 19, when he first noticed the bird.
But three weeks ago, Greg extended a hand to the pigeon in friendship.
“I actually picked him up in both hands and he didn’t struggle,” Greg recalled.
It turns out—as pigeons go—the nicknamed ‘Pidge’ is somewhat remarkable.
“He just seems to have taken on a personality, you know?”
Now, Pidge comes when called, perches on Greg’s shoulder and goes for sleigh rides.
The two are nearly inseparable.
“Every morning, Greg gets up and says, ‘I better go see my Pidge, see how he’s doing,’” Maureen, Greg’s wife, told CTV News.
The Germscheids don’t know what makes Pidge so friendly or smart. They’ve wondered if pigeon sees them as parents, or if he came from a breeder.
Or—they’ve considered—Pidge is just an exceptional animal.
“There’s a little magic in everything, you know?” Greg asked.
The couple doesn’t cage Pidge, so he could leave as suddenly as he showed up. However, no matter what he chooses, Pidge will have friends among the Germscheids.
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A former health secretary has called for an inquiry into the deaths of two hospital patients who contracted a rare infection linked to pigeon droppings. Alex Neil said the cause of the deaths and the handling of the cases by Scotland’s biggest health had to be looked into. The Cryptococcus infections have been linked to the excrement of birds that got into a non-public area at the flagship Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGCC) has launched a probe into the death of one patient, with the cause still to be determined. The health board said the second patient affected – who was elderly – died of an unrelated matter. The Scottish government confirmed the infection was reported in December. Mr Neil told BBC Scotland: “I think there has to be an outside inquiry by experts to find why this happened in the first place, secondly how it has been handled by the health board and, thirdly, what precautions need to be taken for the future.” The SNP MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, who was health secretary between 2012 and 2014, questioned why it took three weeks for the news to be made public. He added: “There are confusing messages coming out of the health board so they need to clarify the situation and do so as a matter of urgency.” “There are confusing messages coming out of the health board so they need to clarify the situation and do so as a matter of urgency” Alex Neil A non-public room, thought to contain machinery, has been identified as a likely source. Measures have been taken to keep pigeons out of the area while portable units that filter the air continuously have been installed. A Scottish government spokesman: “Our primary concern, and that of the Health Board, remains the safety and wellbeing of the patients and their families at the hospital. “There is an on-going review of two isolated cases of an unusual fungal infection within the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital site, which were detected in December 2018.” A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board said an investigation remains ongoing. “These two cases of infection were identified in December and an incident management team was formed. “A likely source was identified and dealt with immediately. “The small number of paediatric and adult patients who are vulnerable to this infection are receiving medication to prevent potential infection and this has proved effective. “Air sampling was carried out and HEPA filters were brought in on 10 January to specific areas before conclusive results were available. “Results identifying the organism were obtained on 16 January. “Early indications suggest the filters are having a positive effect. “The organism is harmless to the vast majority of people and rarely causes disease in humans. “We are unable to comment further on the two cases due to patient confidentiality.”
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The banded pigeon who had taken up temporary residence at the Silver Creek home of Debbie Marzoni in June is roosting and flying in Kamloops.
Arriving in Marzoni’s backyard in early summer, Boomer happily accepted food, settled into her greenhouse and followed her around as she worked in the garden, while keeping a wary eye out for her cats.
While the greenhouse was a suitable summer abode, in September Marzoni began worrying about how the pigeon would fare in winter. The band Boomer was wearing was outdated and untraceable.
As cooler weather approached, Marzoni acted on expert advice, including taking Boomer as far away as Vernon in the hopes the bird would file a new flight plan.
But Boomer found her way back to the Silver Creek greenhouse within a couple of days.
In late September, Marzoni began seeking more suitable accommodation and, following a story in the Observer, received offers of a new home.
The one Marzoni chose for Boomer, who turns out to be female, is Greg Wagner and his Doves Above Kamloops, located at his home near Thompson Rivers University.
Wagner and his pure white “doves” are released for special celebrations in the Kamloops area. Following their release, the birds fly back to their comfortable home.
“There are two types of doves; true doves don’t have a homing instinct,” he says, pointing out why he can’t actually use doves for his business. “These are pure white homing pigeons.”
Rather than feeling duped, Wagner says most people attending the celebrations are usually keenly interested in the birds.
Wagner, whose family lives in Salmon Arm, was made aware of Boomer’s need for a home in an email from his sister.
“Are you missing a bird? Do you want a bird?”
He met Boomer when he came home for Thanksgiving and has since introduced her to the flock.
“She’s doing fine; I kept her inside for almost two months,” he says, noting when he first let her out with another group of birds, Boomer flew up and looked around. “She stayed out for the first night, which is common; it has happened with other birds I’ve re-homed.”
Wagner says he thinks the reason the birds stay out for a night or so has to do with their homing instinct.
“Maybe they go away to reactivate the homing instinct,” he says. “but after a night out, I think she realized there was food and water here so she came back.”
Although she’s getting better at keeping up with the other birds, Wagner says he’s not sure Boomer has the greatest homing instinct.
“She’s a little bit off,” he says, noting homing pigeons can return home from 200 miles away or more. “A bird from Lethbridge was sold to a Vancouver owner but two or three days later turned up back in Lethbridge.”
While she may not become part of the flying business, Wagner has other plans for Boomer and a darker male pigeon in the flock.
He had no intentions of breeding the male – who had other ideas and has since bred with Boomer, so he plans to use them as surrogate parents.
He removed Boomer’s eggs, which she produced at the end of last week, and says, not only does he not plan to breed the amorous pair, this is not a good time to incubate eggs.
Laughingly Wagner notes, he removed Boomer’s eggs and replaced them with wooden ones he purchased on Amazon.
“After 10 or 12 days, they’ll abandon the wooden eggs.”
Next up for Wagner and Doves Above Kamloops is a bridal show at the end of January. He has previously been called upon to release birds at weddings, funerals and a special cross removal ceremony at a local church.
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A man has been left devastated after discovering three of his pigeons had been shot dead.
Sean Wardle, of Carlin How, made the grim discovery when he went to the allotments below Mount Pleasant on Tuesday afternoon to feed his birds
He told how he arrived at the site to find three of his Tumbler pigeons were dead after being shot.
The 49-year-old, who visits the allotments every day, says each of the birds had a “slug hole in the back of their neck”.
He said: “I’m devastated really.”
Self-employed Sean, who has had pigeons for over a decade, keeps the birds in a pigeon loft.
However he has had a number of previous issues – this was the second similar incident at the allotment in the last six months and in 2014 he discovered four of his pigeons and four chickens dead after having their heads pulled off.
On Wednesday, Sean said he had reported the latest incident to the police but said they been out to see him and had not phoned.
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said on Wednesday: “We’ve received the report, it came in yesterday just before 4pm.
“It will be recorded as a crime and someone will be in touch with Mr Wardle to take further details for investigation.
“Officers assess each call for the threat, risk and harm and have to prioritise incidents where the public are in immediate danger so that resources are used in cases where people are most at risk when the call comes in.
“Police resources are limited and we aren’t able to attend every call into us immediately, but officers will contact the caller as soon as they are able.”
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.
