Bird Deterrent Products Archives - Pigeon Patrol Canada

Poisoned pigeons used to kill wild buzzards

Pigeon in New York City (file / credit: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

EOGHAN MacCONNELL

HAND-REARED live pigeons were coated in poison, tethered to the ground and used to kill two wild buzzards near the Tipperary-Offaly border, according to BirdWatch Ireland.

BirdWatch volunteers were horrified to discover the two dead buzzard chicks beside three poisonous tethered pigeons near Roscrea.

BirdWatch Ireland Development Officer Niall Hatch said the banned insecticide Carbofuran used to kill the buzzards is so toxic “a quarter of a teaspoonful is enough to kill a fully grown adult”.

“There is a really serious public safety issue here as well,” he said, “whoever is responsible for planting the poison took a real risk themselves”. Had the pigeons been found by children who attempted to rescue them, “you could be reporting on an even worse story today,” he added.

No motive has yet been established. Buzzards eat rabbits, crows, magpies, rats and mice. They will occasionally feed on a dead lamb, but are incapable of killing a lamb, said Mr Hatch.

An indigenous bird, the buzzard was absent in Ireland from the late 19th century until 1933, when a pair bred in Co Antrim. The species has spread slowly down from the north through the 20th century and is now established in almost every county in Ireland.

BirdWatch Ireland say this was a particularly abhorrent incident.

The live hand-reared pigeons were tethered to the ground as bait, their bodies coated with poison and their wings clipped to prevent any chance of escape.

A day after the dead buzzards were found last month, another live, poison-coated pigeon was discovered tethered in the same area.

The buzzards’ nest in Roscrea was being monitored by two young volunteers from BirdWatch Ireland’s Raptor Conservation Project since early spring. They had been charting the progress of the three young buzzard chicks.

One volunteer said: “we had been watching them all summer and it was sickening to see them killed like that for no reason”.

The farmer on whose land the birds were nesting said: “they have not caused me or any of the other farmers in the area any problems whatsoever. I gave nobody permission to come on my land and lay down poison, and whoever did so was trespassing,” he said.

In October 2010, laws were passed making it illegal to use poison to kill birds or animals, with the exception of rats and mice.

An investigation has been launched and anyone with information is urged to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service on 057 91 37811 or Birr Garda station on 057 91 69710.

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.

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Bird Bling: the pigeon with a bread necklace

Pigeon with a bread necklace. A new symbol of wealth among pigeon flocks.

Bird Bling. A new symbol of wealth among pigeon flocks.

The pigeon with a bread necklace: How bird got more than he bargained for after searching for food

A peckish pigeon got more than he bargained for when he swooped down to eat a piece of bread – and found himself wearing it instead.

The pigeon couldn’t believe his luck when he spotted the large piece of bread in a park in Poland.

The bird swooped down, grabbed the piece of bread and tossed it up in the air, only for it to land around its neck and out of reach from its beak.

Photographer Jaroslaw Porzezinski, 42, spotted the bird while walking in a park near to his home in Szczecin, Poland.

He said he spotted the bird looking rather sorry for itself as it tried to eat – or at best shake off – its latest accessory.

Jaroslaw said: ‘The poor bird was in a right flap.

‘At first I thought to myself that bird has an unusual collar, he looked really funny.

‘It’s remarkable how he actually ended up wearing the bread, I’m sure its not normal behaviour for a pigeon.’

‘The poor bird must have been hungry so I gave him some food, but I couldn’t get close enough to take the bread off from around his neck.

‘So when I went home this pigeon was still wearing the bread but was pecking away at the food I gave him.’

Though it is a sick chain, were not sure whether they will be featured in any rap videos anytime soon!

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Housing bosses set to use a hawk to keep nuisance pigeons away

LEYTON: Housing bosses set to use a hawk to keep nuisance pigeons away

By Safira Ali

A HAWK will be used to scare pigeons which are blighting a Leyton estate.

L&Q housing association will be introducing the Harris Hawk to patrol the Beaumont Estate with a handler to get rid of nuisance pigeons.

A spokesman for L&Q housing association said: “We have been talking to residents on the Beaumont Estate and they have told us that the pigeons are causing a real problem. Installing netting or pigeon spikes is not always effective, and it can be very unsightly, so we have been consulting with residents about other options.

“We had similar problems at another L&Q development in Greenwich and found that bringing in a specially trained hawk worked wonders.

“The hawk breaks the habit of the pigeons frequenting an area, and at the end of the programme hawk kites are installed to maintain the deterrent.

“The hawks are very tame and fully insured for public handling, so the children on the estate can interact with the birds and watch what is going on.

“It’s a slightly unusual solution, but the feedback from residents in Greenwich was very positive so we will look at trying it on the Beaumont Estate.”

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Bob Sullivan welcomed the plans. He said he had had numerous complaints from residents about the roosting pigeons messing up their homes.

Cllr Sullivan said: “It is very unusual. Pigeons are a problem all over the place. They roost on the balconies of the flats causing a mess.

“Hopefully the hawk will be able to chase them off. A few people have complained to me about the pigeons. It has been an ongoing problem for years.

“They also roost on the bridge across the road. That is a classic place for pigeons. Putting netting up keeps them away for a while but not for long.

“If they get a hawk it shows that they are looking into the problem. It is something that has to be looked at. It will be interesting to see how it works.”

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Canadian woman battling crippling disease caused by pigeon poop

PETER POWER – THE GLOBE AND MAIL

In the span of a few weeks, Erica Richards has been transformed from a vibrant 23-year-old woman who loved nature to a person battling for her life.

In early January, the Fredericton woman contracted a potentially fatal condition called cryptococcal meningitis, a fungal disease carried in the feces of pigeons.

The debilitating illness attacks the spine and brain, causing severe swelling. It left her confined to a hospital bed in a state of delirium for weeks.

But the most devastating side effect is that Ms. Richards is now blind.

“Be aware of this disease. It could kill a child in a heartbeat,” Ms. Richards said in an interview from her hospital bed.

“It could kill a senior in a heartbeat without you even having to worry about the symptoms. It comes on that fast. If you don’t realize the symptoms, it could kill you, too.”

Her emotional warning comes on the heels of city council’s approval earlier this month of a recommendation that it toughen its animal control bylaw to allow for fines for feeding pigeons. Once the amendment is drafted and declared law, it will give the city’s bylaw enforcement officers the power to ticket and fine offenders.

Ms. Richards said she decided to go public about her illness after learning about a recent newspaper story about a problem with pigeon poop in the city.

“Please don’t feed the pigeons,” she said. “Try to shoo them away if you see them. … It (the disease) is horrible. The pain that you get from this disease is crippling.

“The after-effects are with you for life and you just can’t stop thinking about it. I just want other people to know and try to stay away from pigeons.”

Oddly enough, Ms. Richards said she has no recollection of ever being anywhere near pigeons.

“I am still wondering to this day where I got it,” she said. “I could have stepped in it and brought it into the home. I just don’t know.”

Ms. Richards said the symptoms started with a migraine headache that wouldn’t go away. She was admitted to hospital on Feb. 10 after many days of intense head pain. Shortly after, she went into a coma-like state.

“When I woke up I thought I had a mask over my eyes, but I was wrong. I was blind. I was recently told that I will be blind for the rest of my life. This is a tough thing for a 23-year-old to go through. … My world crumbled around me.”

Ms. Richards said the odds of surviving the disease are 50-50.

“However, I managed to make it through,” she said, battling tears. “I don’t know how but I am still here, and I am glad because I get to warn everyone else of this.”

Cristin Muecke, the Health Department’s regional medical officer, confirmed the disease is often associated with pigeon droppings. She said the illness can’t be spread person to person and is more common with someone who has immune problems.

Ms. Richards, however, said she has never had a problem with her immune system and that’s what’s so puzzling about contracting the affliction.

“I do not want anyone else to suffer this agonizing disease and I ask anyone who is feeding pigeons to stop,” she said. “It’s not just a matter of keeping your neighbourhood clean … it’s a matter of keeping people healthy.”

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Revealed: the mechanism that allows birds of a feather to flock together

Revealed: the mechanism that allows birds of a feather to flock together

Pigeons loaded with GPS backpacks show the secrets of co-ordinated flight control

Anyone interested in the democratic process could do worse than study the group decisions made by pigeons in mid-flight. Scientists have discovered that pigeon flocks are governed by a kind of “democratic hierarchy” that makes sure everyone flies in the same direction.

With the help of tiny GPS backpacks carried by each member of a loft of pigeons, researchers have discovered how large numbers of animals are able to instantly co-ordinate their movements to ensure that they do things as a group rather than as anarchic individuals.

Although the principle has so far only been demonstrated with a smallish flock of Hungarian pigeons, the scientists believe it could also operate on much bigger groups of animals, such as schools of fish and herds of wild buffalo, and might even explain how close-knit groups of people, such as juries, manage to reach a single decision.

“Anyone who has seen flocks of birds or schools of fish is familiar with this phenomenon of large numbers of individuals in a fast-moving group appearing to move in a co-ordinated way, and it’s not immediately clear how they coordinate themselves,” said Dora Biro, a zoologist at Oxford University.

“Our question was, how do groups like flocks of pigeons make decisions about what to do and where to go?” Dr Biro said.

The GPS backpacks carried by the pigeons enabled the scientists to precisely monitor the birds’ movements, relative to each other, every 0.2 seconds of their journey from the point where the scientists released them to their home loft in Budapest, 15km away.

“Previously, people had assumed democratic decisions, where every bird’s preferences are somehow averaged out, and that’s what the group ends up doing. Or there might be a single leader or a small number of leaders that everyone follows,” Dr Biro said.

“But what we were able to do by tracking these birds with individual GPS units was to resolve the leader-follower relationship within the flock. What we found was a more sophisticated and refined mechanism for how the decisions are made,” she said.

“There wasn’t a single leader, nor was there a kind of egalitarian decision-making where everyone had an equal vote. Instead, each bird did have a vote, but the weight that each vote carried differed between birds.

“It represented a kind of hierarchy where the decisions of some birds near the top of the hierarchy carried more weight in terms of what the birds did than the birds lower down the hierarchy, who were still influential but to a lesser degree,” said Dr Biro, who carried out the study with Tamás Vicsek of Eötvös University in Budapest.

“Whether such effects come from some individuals being more motivated to lead, or being inherently better navigators perhaps with greater navigational knowledge, is an intriguing question we don’t yet have an answer to,” Dr Biro said.

The loft of pigeons in the study consisted of 10 birds whose every movement was recorded as they flew in a flock from one location to another. The analysis, published in the journal Nature, described how each bird moved in relation to its neighbours, with some individuals leading more than others.

“It’s neither a completely democratic system, where everybody gets the vote, nor [one with] a single leader or a few leaders responsible for the decisions. But in fact every individual gets a kind of input into what the group as a whole should do,” Dr Biro said.

“If this was honed by evolution, if there was a selective advantage for individuals in the group to make decisions in this way, then it might represent a particularly efficient form of group decision making… It is possible that the mechanism we saw in these pigeons generalises to other species and to other group decision-making contexts, even in humans,” Dr Biro said.

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“Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

A day after being dubbed the filthiest in America, a Tennessee hotel is pledging to clean up.

The Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center was ranked the filthiest hotel in America, according to ratings compiled and released by the travel review site TripAdvisor.

The historic Smoky Mountains hotel in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., was graded “terrible” by 161 of 224 reviewers on the site. Twenty-six called it “poor” and 15 gave it an “average” grade.

But CEO and General Manager Nicky Darrell Chaney said he has already fired one manager, hired a new maintenance manager and new head of housekeeping, and is in the process of using a new sanitizer to clean the rooms, reports CBS affiliate WVLT in Knoxville.

“We knew we had some problems, and we’ve started to work on these problems,” said Nicky Chaney, President and CEO of the company that runs the hotel. Chaney took over operations in December and vows to restore their public image.

“I fired one of the managers, I hired new maintenance, and new housekeeper,” he said. “We’re proud of what we’re doing now, and were excited about where we’re going to be in the next few weeks.

Chaney took over just last month as president and CEO of KMS Enterprises, which runs the Grand and several nearby properties owned by hotel magnate Kenneth M. Seaton.

“This is an issue the company is taking very seriously,” Chaney said a statement Tuesday.

Seaton also is a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment of two former housekeepers hired to work in KMS hotels, the Sentinel reports.

Meanwhile, the Grand will have to keep making changes to stay ahead of negative reviews – and the unwanted spotlight following the TripAdvisor “award.”

“This is a nasty place, would not let my dog sleep there,” reviewer LaFolettePat wrote last week under the headline “health inspector please.”

JordynC’s assessment: “If you are looking for a hotel with: pubic hair stuck to the bathroom floor in some unidentifiable, gelatinous liquid; chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls and corridors; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room; carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to sit your luggage down – let alone walk around barefoot; dingy bedsheets and towels as rough and thin as sandpaper; and a room so putrid and smelly it causes a gag-reflex when you walk in… by all means, stay at The Grand Resort.”

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Conwy Road Bridge repair bill rises as pigeon poo hides rust

Conwy road bridge, now infested with pigeons faces a huge repair bill due to hidden droppings.

Conwy Road bridge, infested with pigeons

Bridge repair costs have more than doubled because pigeon poo disguised rust.

Council officials struck a deal for the work on Conwy Road Bridge in 2016.

But the costs shot up by £844,000 to £1.53m after an inspection revealed rust on the structure was hidden by the birds’ droppings.

Conwy council chief executive Iwan Davies said it was not possible to identify the extent of the works but a councillor said it was “disappointing”.

Repairs for the two lane bridge, which takes traffic across the town’s estuary, were sent out to tender in 2016.

But a report by the council’s audit committee said the “considerable” extra work needed had not been found originally because of “access” problems.

“The additional works…significantly impacted the total cost of the works,” the report said.

Gele ward councillor Andrew Wood said: “I can’t believe we’ve not made more of an issue about this refurbishment, it’s plus £844,000.

“If the council tendered with all that information in the first place then it would have cost less. But we’re in a situation now where we have to carry on, so I’m disappointed.”

Mr Davies added: “It wasn’t an overspend as such, it was a re-calibration of what needed to be done.”

Ipswich port postpones pigeon cull after outcry

A port operator has said it will postpone its plans to shoot pigeons after an outcry over the proposed cull.

Associated British Ports (ABP) had told residents living near the Waterfront, Ipswich, that it would carry out the action on Sunday.

It had raised concerns that the birds around its grain stores were a danger to the food supply chain.

But after a petition, which gathered 3,000 signatures, ABP has now suspended the cull.

Ipswich MP Sandy Martin said he would ask the company to look at alternatives.

The online petition, launched four days ago, called on the Labour MP and Prime Minister to intervene in plans for the cull.

Mr Martin said: “Frightening the pigeons away, making sure they can’t get hold of any grain… those are the sorts of things they might be able to do.

“I am going to have a discussion with Associated British Ports and see if they have tried every possible alternative.”

Animal lover Molly Potter, 21, had helped to set up the petition and was also organising a protest during the proposed cull.

“I have a rescue pigeon and seeing how intelligent he is, it completely broke my heart.,” she said.

“We want to find a more peaceful solution.”

In a statement, ABP said it had decided to “suspend the proposed pigeon cull, whilst we take advice from the appropriate environmental organisations on the latest alternative solutions”.

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.

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Derelict house could help target problem pigeons

By Carl Jackson

A solution’s been proposed to tackle a rising pigeon problem in part of Birmingham – turn over an abandoned house to them and allow for a controlled cull.

It comes after complaints to Birmingham City Council from people in Sparkhill about a huge flock of the birds.

Their arrival is being blamed on some locals enjoying feeding them or being reluctant to throw away excess food.

Sign saying stop feeding pigeons in Sparkhill park

The city council has put up signs in the local park telling people not to feed the birds and now the founder of a local pest control firm has suggested relocating them.

Alan Ames, of the Ames Group, has suggested to the authority that they find a nearby derelict house or even an unused loft and open it as a pigeon coop.

He said it would allow a cull to take place in a safe and controlled way.

Durham Teenagers ‘stamp on pigeon’s head’ as horrified shoppers look on

Shoppers who witnessed a gang of teenagers stamp on a fatally injured pigeon have been urged to report the incident to police.

The RSPCA says a crime may have been committed after eight youths were seen repeatedly kicking the bird in Darlington town centre.

One youngster was reported to have jumped on the animal – which was already lying injured after being hit by a car.

A spokesperson with the animal welfare charity said: “This sounds like a distressing incident and we urge anyone with information to contact the police or the RSPCA.”

The attack, on Saturday, was carried out in front of children, the Northern Echo reported. It continued even after a nearby shop security guard attempted to warn the youths away.

One witness, Jordon O’Gorman told the newspaper: “It was disgusting.” He added: “I just saw a lot of teenagers surrounding it. I saw one boy jump and land on the pigeon. “I heard the security guard tell them to move but they wouldn’t. “It had been knocked over – it was dead – but still no need to jump on it.”

“It’s disgusting and there were two younger kids with me so I turned them round. I didn’t want them seeing that.”

CTA, officials up rally against a determined pigeon feeder at Northwest Side station

By MARY WISNIEWSKI – Chicago Tribune

State Rep. Jaime Andrade has been fighting a losing battle to clean up the mess made by pigeons at the CTA’s Irving Park Blue Line station on the city’s Northwest Side.

The sidewalk by the station is so thickly spackled with droppings that it looks and smells like a chicken coop. Andrade, who represents the district that includes the station, has pushed for state funds to keep the birds away. Earlier this month, he was hit in the head by guano during a television interview.

But Andrade, state and city officials and the CTA are up against someone who is determined to feed and protect birds around the city and visits the Irving Park station often with big sacks of white rice.

Pigeons being fed an individual leaving behind a mess of food scraps and droppings.

“I protect all God’s creatures because this is my mission,” said Young Kang, 67, while at the Hoa Nam Grocery store on Argyle Street in Uptown last week, where she buys supplies to feed the birds. “This is not for my good. God gave this to me. I take care of the birds.”

Kang, who used to be in the restaurant business, said she is a Christian minister and founder of a nonprofit. It has been incorporated as Young Bird Care Society since April 2015 and is in good standing, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. Over the past 11 years, Kang said she has spent $300,000 of her own money feeding birds in locations around the city, going out every day and hiring people to help.

She said she also helps the homeless, stuffing money under their pillows as they sleep.

pigeon flock perching on roof

CTA riders interviewed outside the Irving Park station described the pigeon situation as “gross” and “terrible” and wondered why more netting couldn’t be put up in more areas of the bridge. Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell said the agency can’t do this because it needs to have the area open for inspections and other maintenance.

“We’re happy to continue discussing and meeting with all interested parties to see if there’s some solution,” Tridgell said.

Andrade disagreed with IDOT’s explanation, saying netting could easily be removed for inspections. “The problem comes down to who is going to pay,” he said.

There is some metal netting under the Kennedy bridge, apart from the area around the CTA station entrance, but some of it is in disrepair.

By contrast, anti-pigeon netting is completely installed on the beams under the Union Pacific railroad bridge, above the sidewalk, just west of the CTA station. The bridge carries Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line.

Mary Parich of Independence Park said that sometimes the pigeon mess on the sidewalk is so bad that she has to tip-toe.

“They are God’s creatures, but you have to look out for the health of people, too,” Parich said.

Kang said she once lived in the neighborhood, and the birds have always been there, long before she started feeding them.

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Dozens of ‘decorated’ pigeons found dead in New Zealand

Pigeon covered in tinsel is investigated

Pigeons and other birds have been found around the New Zealand capital of Wellington with Christmas decorations attached.

Originally By Lisa Jane Harding, CNN

(CNN) Injured and dead pigeons covered in tinsel and other decorations have been turning up in New Zealand, and animal rights campaigners are worried.

The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it received up to 30 calls in recent weeks reporting sightings of sparrows and dead pigeons with tinsel intentionally tied to their bodies.

“Many try to pry the foreign objects off their bodies with their beaks and feet, becoming further entangled and preventing them from eating, drinking and flying.

With others, the decorations are wrapped so tightly it completely cuts off their blood circulation,” SPCA spokeswoman Jessie Gilchrist told CNN.

“Those that do survive and arrive at our center are often in a very bad state, they are so malnourished and distressed that we have had to humanely euthanize them.”

The decorations can prevent the birds from eating, drinking and flying, leaving them to starve to death.

Since 2015, the charity said there has been over thirty cases of “decorated” birds found dead or with injuries severe enough to require euthanasia. Most of them being dead pigeons.

On Tuesday, SPCA officers were called to a house in Kilbirnie, a suburb of the capital Wellington, where they rescued several birds covered in decorations and paint.

The birds were in a distressed but otherwise healthy condition.

“One pigeon had quite bright red Christmas tinsel wrapped around its wings and then the top of its head had been painted with red paint as well as its wings had been tipped with red paint,” Gilchrist said.

While charges have yet to be laid against the owners of the house, Gilchrist said the case “remains an ongoing investigation.”

Sparrows and pigeons — which forage for food on the ground, in shrubs or shallow water — face a number of threats from predators, including foxes and racoons, as well as larger birds and snakes.

But humans are perhaps the biggest threat to the birds. In 2015, New Zealand recognized all animals, including birds, as “sentient” under law, extending protections and making it easier for charities like the SPCA to prosecute people for animal cruelty.

One stated purpose of the law was to “remove uncertainty around the ill-treatment of wild animals by targeting acts of wilful or reckless ill-treatment.”

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Inside the fascinating and sometimes brutal world of pigeon racing in China

Pigeon racer holds prized bird

By Karoline Kan, CNN • 6th April 2019

Every day during the racing season, 55-year-old Zhang Yajun wakes at 4 a.m. and carefully loads bamboo cages containing his 76 cherished racing pigeons into a van. Then he drives up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) from his Beijing apartment to release them. They are in training for the October and November racing season, during which time millions of dollars can be won in total prize money across races.

Zhang is just one of some 100,000 pigeon breeders living in Beijing, according to Sun Yan, the deputy general-secretary of the Beijing Changping District Racing Pigeons Association.

“Pigeon racing is a culture, but it’s also a sport,” Sun says.

On a crisp fall morning, Zhang opens the cages in a cornfield at Niutuo in Hebei province, 80 km (50 miles) south of Beijing. Forty minutes later, he uses his phone connection to a rooftop camera to watch the birds arriving home. He’s happy with their speed.

Zhang, who was a state-owned beverage factory manager before retiring in the early 2000s, says he spends about 100,000 yuan ($14,900) a year on his pigeons. That covers food, medicine, race entry fees and transport costs for training sessions — as well as equipment such as his rooftop camera gear.

Each spring, Zhang says, some 100 pigeons are born on his roof but by fall only about 20 are left. The rest have either succumbed to illness or died of injuries suffered from hitting telegraph poles or other obstacles. Or else they just got lost on the way home.

But pigeon racing also has a darker side.

Zhang says “bird-napping” — when pigeons are baited and netted during training sessions before being sold off — is a common problem.

And then there is the cheating.

In April last year, two men hid their birds in milk cartons and caught a bullet train in Henan before releasing them in Shanghai, 750 km (466 miles) away. But the birds’ unusually fast speed aroused suspicion, and the men were fined and given suspended three-year prison sentences for fraudulently obtaining prize money totaling about $147,000.

However; Beijing is becoming less and less friendly to bird fanciers.

In the spring of 2017, under a city beautification campaign targeting two-story buildings in the lanes known as hutongs, many rooftop pigeon lofts were subsequently demolished.

The government classified them as illegal buildings.

Breeder Zhang Jian says four large pigeon cages on his roof were demolished, although he still surreptitiously keeps four other cages housing about 100 pigeons. Most of his neighbors have known Zhang Jian since he was a boy and he says they understand his passion for the birds.

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Windsor city issues warning to clean up rooftop swamp

The stagnant rooftop swamp on top of a vacant commercial building on Ouellette Avenue continues to fester, attracting wildlife and emitting a wicked stench that has frustrated neighbours who’ve put up with the growing mess for months.

A pond of water pooled on the roof of the empty property at 747-755 Ouellette Ave. long enough for a large patch of reeds and cattails to flourish, providing an attractive destination for the pigeons and seagulls that arrive almost every morning.

Malette says nothing has been done since she highlighted the issue. But help may be on the way, according to Lee Ann Doyle, the city’s chief building official. Inspectors have visited the site several times and issued a final warning to the owner to clean up the property.

“If the work isn’t done, we’ll do it and charge it against the property taxes,” Doyle said.

Building inspectors issued a work order after visiting the site in July. When nothing was done, the city sent out the warning letter on Aug. 11, giving the owner until Sept. 10 to clean up the mess.

Doyle said, if nothing is done, the city will call in contractors on Sept. 11 to do the work.

The building is listed to Entertaining Assests Inc., but company representative Mike Soleski previously told The Windsor Star he hasn’t owned the property for several months. All records on file with the city indicate there has been no change in ownership.

Malette barely goes out onto her 13th floor balcony anymore because of the smell and the mosquitoes.

“I’m not a person to make complaints, but this is just ridiculous,” she said.

Discarded patio chairs, empty pizza boxes and beer cans demonstrate the amount of human traffic on the rooftop as well. The commercial building has been boarded up for years, but at least 10 times, Malette said, she has watched people on the roof, smoking drugs and drinking. They’ve even gone as far as setting small fires.

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Uptown Alderman to Make Feed Pigeons Criminal

Feeding pigeons swarm to pick up chips outside Wilson transit stop

CHICAGO (CBS) — Pigeons; they’re tolerated at best, hated at worst. Now, one Chicago alderman wants to make it a crime to feed pigeons.

CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov reports some people are calling the proposal by Ald. James Cappleman (46th) a bird-brained idea.

Uptown, downtown – pigeons are everywhere in Chicago.

Thursday morning, Barb Wambach was visiting the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza – where dozens of pigeons gather every day, keeping warm by the eternal flame – when she got an unpleasant surprise dropped on the boot-shaped mug she was holding.

“I moved my cup, and it felt like something plopped in it,” Wambach said. After a group of pigeons flew overhead, she found a splattering of bird droppings on her mug.

It’s that threat to everyday living, that fear of walking under a viaduct, the scourge of flying birds that Cappleman wants to eradicate.

He has introduced an ordinance that would significantly increase the penalties for feeding pigeons – making it a crime punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Cappleman wasn’t available Thursday to discuss his proposal, but he told other aldermen he’s tired of encountering a scene from a Hitchcock movie every time he walks to the Wilson station on the CTA Red Line.

Scores – if not hundreds – of the birds perch at the station, just waiting to be fed. A huge flock of them swarmed down to the sidewalk Thursday afternoon to descend on some potato chip crumbs like hunters on prey.

“They’re a nuisance. They’re everywhere. You know, you could stand there waiting on the bus and they’re all over your feet,” Bobby Williams said outside the Wilson stop. “I think it should be illegal to feed them.”

It’s already a city code violation to feed pigeons – as signs at the Wilson stop indicate – punishable by a fine of up to $500. Cappleman’s proposal would double the maximum fine and add the possibility of up to six months in jail.

“They’re gonna arrest someone for feeding a bird?” Lily Norton said. “That’s kind of ridiculous.”

“It’s silly. He should be focusing on other problems,” Oliver Guyton said. “Like the budget and all that type of stuff that aldermen do.”

In May, Cappleman was assaulted by a woman in Uptown, after he started sweeping away the breadcrumbs she had spread on the ground for pigeons near Broadway and Wilson Avenue.

At the time, the alderman said the area is littered with breadcrumbs every day and has a serious pigeon problem. He has also said the breadcrumbs people leave for the birds could attract rats, too, so his staff regularly cleans up breadcrumbs left on the streets.

Orignal by – DANA KOZLOV (CBS)

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CTA Orders Cleaning of Garage Covered in Pigeon Poop

CTA’s Kiss ‘n Ride parking garage at the Cumberland Blue Line station is covered in pigeon droppings. The CTA has ordered the company that runs the garage to clean it up and install devices to keep pigeons away. (Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) — The CTA has ordered the company that runs the “Kiss n’ Ride” parking garage at the Cumberland Blue Line stop to clean the place up. The place is overrun by pigeons and some fear it may become a health hazard.

CBS2’s Mike Parker reports, pigeons are everywhere at the parking garage for the Cumberland stop – lurking on every floor of the huge garage. They’re birds of a feather, all right, and wreaking havoc with some pretty fancy car exteriors.

“There are pigeon droppings, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were bats up there as well,” said garage user Mark Gelula.

CBS 2 found no bats at the garage, only pigeons and mounds of droppings all over – some of them two to three inches deep.

Professional bird chaser Joe Seid toured the garage and said, “Maybe it’s cleaned occasionally, but it appears it’s not cleaned very frequently.”

Seid said he’s concerned about the health danger, not the paint jobs of the cars.

“If the droppings get airborne and you breathe it in, it could take a long time to take effect but it can be deadly,” he said.

Late Tuesday, after CBS 2 called to report what we found, the CTA ordered Central Parking Services to take action.

The company, which manages and maintains the garage was told to install measures designed to prevent roosting. The transit agency also ordered that the “area be thoroughly cleaned”, and that “efforts will be monitored and evaluated for effectiveness.”

According to the CTA, “the safety, security and well being of our customers and employees” is a top priority. Looks like a job for the experts!

Original by CBS 2 Producer Ed Marshall.

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Pigeons Huddle for Warmth At “L” Stops

Dozens of Pigeons crowding the L station

Dozens of birds crowding the station

CHICAGO (CBS) — Commuters are calling it everything from cute to disgusting – dozens of pigeons warming themselves under the heating lamps at Loop ‘L’ stops.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, pigeons have crowded into the heat lamp stalls on the platforms to the point where there is no place for humans left to stand.

“It’s like we’re being supplanted by the pigeons,” one woman said.

Most people politely let the pigeons have the space, but that may have something to do with all the pigeon poop on the platform under the heaters.

“It’s kind of funny,” the commuter said. “It’s also so dirty that people don’t even dare, trying to make their own way and get some space for themselves.”

The commuter was giving the pigeons a wide berth, noting the smell.

“I think it’s cute and disgusting at the same time.”

The Chicago Transit Authority says it has only gotten two complaints about pigeons this winter. But one man waiting for an ‘L’ train was quite unhappy.

“It’s disgusting that these birds are and the city is not doing anything about it,” he said. Pigeon droppings are known to carry a host of viruses and cause health problems.

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Birds & Wildlife not welcome at Windsor Airport

Bird control being used to keep airways free of obstruction

Phil Mailloux fires a noise maker in the air at the Windsor Airport in Windsor on Friday, September 21, 2012. Mailoux is part of the team that keeps the airport free of potentially deadly pests. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star)

To discover a vast varmint-free oasis in this city, go no further than the Windsor International Airport. It’s legal to hunt, trap, chase, haze and harass any bird or animal that shows its unwanted face within YQG’s 2,000 acres of fenced-off territory.

Trap cages containing pigeons as live lures are just one of the devices deployed to keep down the numbers of raptors, including American kestrels, red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks, snowy and great-horned owls and even peregrine falcons. Such birds are kept in cages for 24 hours and then transported elsewhere, including Holiday Beach.

Chicken wire edging and even glued-on golf tees keep birds off landing lights and other runway fixtures. Airfield directional signs are now encased in gravel piles to keep skunks from digging down and creating nesting burrows.

“We use the biology of the critter to let them know this is not a safe place to be,” said Roberts. Wildlife control trucks that can be quickly deployed come equipped with noise-making sirens and distress callers, and staff have firearms and an array of “pyrotech” devices at the ready, including bangers and screamers and screeching “wizards.”

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Chicago: Pigeon Hitches A Ride On The Brown Line

View image on Twitter

CHICAGO (CBS) — Sometimes it’s faster to take the train than fly to where you’re going, even if you’re a bird.

A pigeon perched on a seat on the Brown Line during the morning rush on Monday.

Other commuters seemed to be unflappable, appearing to not even notice as the bird enjoyed its ride.

There was a brief delay on the Brown Line as the pigeon was escorted off the train at Armitage.

The CTA said it could not confirm if the bird paid its fare, but officials were checking its account.

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‘Attack of the pigeon!’: Video shows man throwing dead bird during street fight

A dead pigeon is shown after it was thrown in a fight in Liverpool, U.K.

No rest for the dead!

By Josh K. Elliott – Viral/Trends Global News

Video of a late-night fistfight in the United Kingdom shows one combatant flipping the other the bird – then throwing an actual dead bird at him.

Onlookers burst into laughter after realizing that the man had scooped a dead pigeon off the sidewalk and hurled it at the other man at the end of an otherwise tense confrontation.

“Can’t believe he threw a dead pigeon!” user Kwasi Mensah wrote in a Facebook post along with the video, which has been watched more than 180,000 times. Mensah told U.K. tabloids that he recorded the footage while working as a doorman at a nearby bar.

The video clip, which was first posted online Aug. 15, shows the two men fighting outside a McDonald’s restaurant on the street in Liverpool late at night. The footage starts with a man in a jacket shouting and posturing in front of three other men, including a man in a green T-shirt.

“Come on, then!” the man in the jacket says. “Let’s have it!” he settles into a fighting stance and the other man reluctantly starts to defend himself. The man in the jacket takes several jabs while the man in green tries to swat the attacks away.

Onlookers encourage the man in green to walk away rather than engage the other man.

“I’m walking away. It’s useless,” the man says. “You’re a waste of my time,” he tells his attacker.

But he had other ideas. The man in the jacket suddenly lunges in and the two start trading blows.

Lou Bega’s Mambo Number 5 can be heard blaring from a nearby speaker as the fight gets underway. The two men trade blows as the man in green tries to avoid a fight.

Approximately 90 seconds into the encounter, the man in green can be seen giving the other man the middle finger, then kneeling down to pick up a dead pigeon on the sidewalk. In one swift motion he flings the dead bird at his attacker.

The camera pans away from the two fighters to show the pigeon’s body on the sidewalk. Two voices can be heard cackling.

“Attack of the pigeon!” one man says through his laughter. “The f**king poor pigeon.”

The video pans back to where the two men were fighting. The man in the green shirt can be seen walking away. The man in the jacket starts running after him just as the video ends.

Fighting is for the birds, anyway.

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