Recently moved, new place has a feral pigeon problem....

Not sure what a feral pigeon is. Are they the parti-colored gizmos in Central Park?

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kolyaboo wrote:

Not sure what a feral pigeon is. Are they the parti-colored gizmos in Central Park?

These little buggers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_pigeon

What puzzles me, is why they differentiate species of pigeons based on their melanin alone...... Aren't all pigeons the same? I'm legally allowed to serve one species of pigeon with a tennis racket, just because its melanin levels are different. Trust me, I'm an equal opportunity hater when it comes to flying shitters that nest and breed in my personal space. Couldn't care less about melanin levels. But, that's not what the law says.

Putting up chicken wire or plastic netting keeps them away - our flats have balconies and it's pretty cheap to get a guy to come in and run wire along the top and bottom, and get full surround fine plastic netting.

Keeps the shitbirds out, and keeps the cats and small children in.

The occasional cicada or dragonfly gets caught in the netting and we sit and watch while it extricates itself (or we give it a push, or it becomes a Crunchy Snack for Jake or Elwood). But we have not had a single bird in, or near, our balcony or on the netting since installing it 9 years ago.

Wounded or dead pigeons left out in the open, get pecked by their fellows. Dogs and cats in the neighbourhood will also find a downed bird irresistible. This is cruel and can lead to spread of disease. If you kill birds, pick them up and dispose of them properly, and then wash your hands!

Don't use poison. Once the bait leaves your hands, you have no control over where it goes, whether into a pigeon, or into a chickadee, robin, cat, dog, or toddler. What's more, as soon as a few pigeons die, other ones from neighbouring areas will flood in to replace them. There's plenty of non-poisoned food and nesting spaces nearby to utterly absorb any small effort on your behalf.

Let the city handle any bait-based or population-based solution. Do your part by denying them a place to roost near your house, not leaving them anything to eat, and supporting measures to protect native wildlife habitat near the city. This gives foxes, badgers, hawks, and owls a chance to help.