Big Pigeon Problem

When he moved into a new housing estate, Roger Segdorn paid no mind to the resident pigeons swooping from rooftop to rooftop. Then the birds multiplied. What started as 100 birds is now a legion of 400.

Segdorn now spends a good part of his free time cleaning up after the neighbourhood flock. Sweeping feathers from the entryway and scooping up the occasional dead pigeon are regular chores. He's bought covers for all of his family's cars, and despite continually hosing off his roof, the once-brown surface is half white. Equally frustrating to Segdorn is that his next-door neighbour's roof remains droppings-free.

Local residents and bird experts agree that pigeons have favourite roosting spots where they instinctively return. Segdorn said he almost tied a big balloon to his roof in hopes that the bobbing globe would scare off the feathered visitors. He opted against it for fear of looking "weird". Instead he plans to secure a mechanical motion-detecting owl atop his house. The owl's head spins whenever it senses movement.

Unfortunately the mechanical owl, or any rooftop fixture, probably won't work. It doesn't take long for the pigeons to figure out that the owl is not going to do anything to them. Eventually they'll land right on top of it.

Beyond the annoyance of round-the-clock cooing and the nauseating smell of mass bird droppings, there are some health risks attached to a burgeoning pigeon population. Respiratory masks should always be worn when cleaning up bird droppings or secretions because psittacosis or other fungal-type infections can be contracted by inhaling dust or spores. Psittacosis brings on flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills and muscle aches. Pigeons can also carry diseases such as encephalitis that get passed on to people by vectors, usually mosquitoes.

For people suffering from pigeon overload, a long-term solution involves eliminating the flock's source of food and shelter. You should try screening off eaves or other nooks and crannies where the birds can nest or lay eggs. Fixing spiked wire on ledges and other surfaces usually keeps away the birds, which are smart enough to not land.

In communities it can be difficult because it only takes a few people who are not diligent about screening off areas or who feed the pigeons and the whole community suffers.

Other more extreme remedies include hiring a pest control company to put out poison or releasing hawks or falcons, which naturally prey on smaller birds like pigeons.

But even Segdorn, who has lost plenty of sleep to the flock's noises, believes killing the birds would be too extreme. "I don't want them killed. I just want them relocated," he said. Unfortunately, relocating pigeons is easier said than done. Feral pigeons, as with homing pigeons, have a mechanism in their body whereby you can take them miles away and they simply come back to the same place.

Dynamic Pest Control, 60 Page Lane, Widnes, Cheshire