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Pigeons In Tiny Backpacks Are Measuring Air Pollution In London

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Pigeon backpacks measure air pollution in London.

Air pollution caused by diesel vehicles in London is bad – so bad that it is blamed for 9,500 premature deaths a year and has prompted Britain’s Supreme Court to order the government to make a plan for cleaning up the skies.

Now what is commonly seen as another scourge of the city, the pigeon, is helping in the fight against smog. On Monday, 10 birds outfitted in miniature backpacks carrying pollution sensors and GPS trackers took to the air, and they started tweeting – via beak, perhaps, but definitely via Twitter – their devices’ readings of nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Londoners who tweet at the Pigeon Air Patrol’s Twitter handle, @PigeonAir, are getting responses from the birds about air pollution in their area, and a live map of the pigeons’ location can be viewed online.

The patrol is, by the admission of the technology and marketing companies that created it, a publicity stunt meant to raise awareness about the city’s harmful air. Birds, it should be noted, are also subject to all sorts of nefarious ailments caused by air pollution, including lung damage and low body weight.

“There’s something about taking what is seen as a flying rat and reversing that into something quite positive,” Pierre Duquesnoy, creative director at marketing agency DigitasLBI and the brains behind the pigeon pollution monitors, told the Guardian.

Plume Labs, the tech firm, gave assurance that a veterinarian was involved in the project to ensure the safety of the pigeons, whose names include Coco, Julius and Norbert.

The London pigeons are not the first birds to don backpacks for an environmental cause.

Vultures in Lima, Peru, have been adorned with GPS trackers and GoPro cameras to hunt down illegal garbage dumping sites.

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Pigeons Swarm Chennai Airport, Nomads Roped In To Shoo Them Away

CHENNAI: A number of pigeons are swarming the Chennai airport premises for the last three days. Authorities were forced to hire a nomadic community to shoo them away.

Efforts by the airport personnel to shoo them away have failed; as the birds come back again and again, giving anxious moments to the authorities.

Many birds were spotted around the runway today, authorities requisitioned the services of Narikorava community, who are well versed in shooing them away using traditional techniques.

The gypsies were on the job to shoo the birds away, and have been very successful.

As part of the State Safety Programme, preventing wildlife (bird/animal) strikes to aircraft was identified by Directorate General of Civil Aviation as one of the most important safety priorities.

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Flying High No More: Drug-Smuggling Pigeon Caught In Kuwait

It’s 2017 and we have clearly come a long way from the days pigeons were used to deliver letters.

Case in point, this pigeon in Kuwait that was caught with a little bag full of drugs out for delivery. According to Al Arabiya, Kuwait custom officials caught the pigeon as it was crossing over from Iraq to Kuwait. Upon searching the little grey bag strapped to its back, they discovered 178 narcotic pills. What a comedown for the little birdie.

This is not the first time that drug smugglers have used pigeons for delivery. In 2016, a pigeon was caught trying to smuggle drugs into a Costa Rica prison. The bird will not be charged for this offence.

Pigeons Aren’t Bird-Brained, Can Understand Concepts Of Space, Time

A new study finds that pigeons can discriminate the abstract concepts of space and time but they seem to use a different region of the brain than humans and primates to do so.

WASHINGTON: Not only human beings but even pigeons can discriminate the abstract concepts of space and time, according to a study. However, they seem to use a different region of the brain than humans and primates to do so.

The finding, published in the journal Current Biology, adds to growing recognition in the scientific community that lower-order animal species such as birds, reptiles, and fish are capable of high-level, abstract decision-making.

“Indeed, the cognitive prowess of birds is now deemed to be ever closer to that of both human and non-human primates,” said Edward Wasserman, from the University of Iowa in the US.

“Those avian nervous systems are capable of far greater achievements than the pejorative term ‘bird brain’ would suggest,” he said.

Humans are able to perceive space and time, even without the aid of inventions such as a watch or a ruler. The region of the brain that helps humans make those abstract concepts more tangible is the parietal cortex, part of the cerebral cortex and the outermost layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is known to be a locus of higher thought processes, including speech and decision-making.

However, the pigeon brain does not have a parietal cortex, or at least one developed enough to be distinct. So, the birds must employ another area of the brain to discriminate between space and time.

Pigeons were put through a series of tasks called the “common magnitude” test.

The birds were shown on a computer screen a horizontal line either 6 cm or 24 cm long for either 2 seconds or 8 seconds.

The researchers said the results show pigeons process space and time in ways similar to humans and other primates.

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Pigeongram: In Social Media Era, Odisha Keeps Age-Old Practice Alive

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BHUBANESWAR: With the onslaught of social media and e-communication services, pigeongram may have become a thing of the past across the globe, but the Odisha Police continues to keep alive this unique practice.

The service was put to test yesterday when the Odisha Police, in association with the Bhubaneswar chapter of Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), flew 50 pigeons at OUAT Grounds here to deliver missives of heritage conservation to Cuttack, 25km away.

The ceremony was attended by people from all walks of life, including schoolchildren from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Former DGP and state convener of INTACH, A B Tripathy, praised the police department for preserving the age-old tradition.

The determination of the men who run India’s only police pigeon service has “guaranteed the survival of a practice” that was prevalent in the Mughal era, he said.

SP (signal) BN Das said Odisha was the only state in India to use carrier pigeons to communicate among police stations.

The Odisha Pigeon Service started in 1946 when 200 pigeons were handed over to police personnel by the army on an experimental basis to communicate in areas with no wireless or telephone links, Das said.

The service was first pioneered in the mountainous Koraput district, and its success and reliability resulted in its introduction to almost all the districts of the state with over 700 sturdy Belgian Homer pigeons ferrying messages to assigned destinations.

For years, these dependable birds have been a vital link between remote police stations, where traditional communications failed, beating storms, disasters – and birds of prey, the SP (signal) said.

The messages, written on a piece of paper, were inserted into plastic capsule and tied to the feet of the Belgian Homer Pigeons, which can fly 25 km in just 15 to 25 minutes and live up to 20 years, he added.

The service, headquartered in Cuttack, was extensively used during floods and Super Cyclone in 1999, as radio networks were disrupted, said a senior police officer, adding that the pigeon service was also the only line of communication to the marooned town of Banki during the disastrous flood in 1982.

Ornithologist Panchami Manoo Ukil feels this practice needs to be preserved for the next generation to get an idea about the ancient traditions.

“Pigeon service is an art that dates back to the Mughal days. The birds delivered messages to the harems and battlefields. This unique tradition has historical significance and should be preserved,” he said.

Anil Dhir, a member of INTACH, said the heritage service has generated a lot of interest among the collector’s community.

“All the pigeons reached Cuttack within an hour,” he added.

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New Zealand Votes ”Tipsy” Pigeon Bird Of The Year

The New Zealand pigeon or kereru has a liking for fermented fruits, which contain alcohol.

New Zealand has voted for its bird of the year 2018 and it’s one known for being “drunk, clumsy and a bit of a clown”, organizers said on Monday.

The New Zealand pigeon or kereru has a liking for fermented fruits, which contain alcohol which means that the birds can get quite tipsy at times, displaying clumsy antics and falling off trees, reports the BBC.

This year’s campaign saw celebrity endorsements from actor Stephen Fry and comedian Bill Bailey, while one species even had a profile on dating app, Tinder.

The kereru is one of the few native birds in New Zealand that is not endangered.

“They have quite a reputation of being large and clumsy and being a bit of a clown,” Megan Hubscher of Bird and Forest, a conservationist group that runs the annual vote, told the BBC.

The bird loves fruit and depending on the season, these fruits might be fermented. Hence, the bird will get drunk.

“There are a lot of videos around of kereru getting drunk and stumbling around in a comical manner,” Hubscher said, adding “That’s part of the charm. they’re just very loveable birds”.

The whole campaign to elect a bird of the year is run to draw attention to New Zealand’s birds and the threats they face.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern congratulated the kereru even though she had been rooting for the taiko, or black petrel.

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Rescuers Looking For Owner Of Mysterious Bedazzled Pigeon

Blinged out Bird!

A lot of us look at pigeons less than fondly – but clearly not all of us. A bird shelter in Arizona, USA, is looking for the owner of a pigeon found wearing a rhinestone-covered vest. The bird, now nicknamed ‘rhinestone bird’ and ‘Liberace’, was given to the Fallen Feathers rescue and rehabilitation facility for birds in Phoenix.

According to local reports, the pigeon was found by a woman in Glendale, wearing a blingy flight suit.

The woman said he wouldn’t fly away and she was afraid an animal would eat him, so she turned in the bedazzled bird to Judy Kieran – the founder of Fallen Feathers.

The bedazzled bird received instant online fame once Judy shared his picture on Facebook a week ago, in hopes of tracing his owner. Comments quickly flooded in, ranging from ‘fabulous’ to ‘fancy’ to ‘rhinestone birdy’.

“Looks like it’s maybe El Chapo’s pigeon with that fancy gold encrusted vest,” wrote one person in the comments section. “You have to name him Elvis!!!” joked another.

In fact, the lost bird received so much attention that Judy shared some better pictures later.

(We must say he’s a fabulous bird)

“Apparently he did belong to somebody, because he does keep going to cages and being as friendly as he is, he’s missing his home,” said Judy.

The search is still underway for Rhinestone Pigeon aka Liberace’s owner.

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Chinese buyer bids record $1.4 million for racing pigeon

Armando, the most expensive pigeon in the world.

A Chinese buyer bid more than $1.4 million for a prized Belgian racing pigeon in an “unprecedented” sale, according to the auctioneer that organized the sale.

The pigeon, named Armando, is considered to be the best long-distance racing pigeon “of all time” according to PIPA, the website that organized the sale. The bird has been dubbed by some as the Lewis Hamilton of racing pigeons, in reference to the Formula One racing driver.

“This type of champion is rarely offered for sale,” the site said.
The price spike came in the final hours of bidding, as two Chinese fanciers kept one-upping each other. The price went from about $600,000 to $1.4 million in about an hour, PIPA said.
Jiangming Liu, who works for PIPA in China, said the company was expecting Armando to fetch a high price but “multiple times less” than what he actually got.

“We’re all surprised,” Liu said.

PIPA said Armando is the most expensive bird ever to be sold at auction by a huge margin. The next most expensive is believed to be a bird called Nadine, which fetched more than $450,000 at auction in 2017. The buyer was a Chinese fancier named Xing Wei, according to media reports at the time.

Joel Verschoot, the Belgian breeder who put Armando up for auction, sold a total of 178 pigeons at auction for more than $2.5 million, including 7 of Armando’s offspring. He also sold a bird named Contador, which fetched more than $225,000, per PIPA.

Pigeon racing has become increasingly popular in parts of China among the country’s elite and its middle class.

Sun Yan, the deputy general-secretary of Beijing Changing District Racing Pigeons Association, said at least 100,000 pigeon breeders live in Beijing, and almost 90,000 of them are registered with Racing Pigeons Associations in different levels, to qualify for the games held in the spring and autumn.

Competitions can be lucrative for bird owners, with some prizes amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. Liu said in recent years, pigeon racing has been surging in popularity across China.

“Now other people, like regular people, are joining too,” he said. “It will be bigger in the future.”

Liu attributes the industry’s growth and increasing professionalism to a number of factors. It is the only legal bidding race in mainland China, where most forms of gambling are outlawed, and the sport is becoming increasingly accessible.

“Everyone can do it. From regular people to some rich people. Regular people buy cheap pigeons. Rich people buy expensive pigeons.”

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Indonesian pigeon sells for $100,000 amid national racing boom

Jayabaya

A pigeon named Jayabaya has become the most expensive bird ever sold in Indonesia. A racing pigeon in Indonesia has been sold for 1 billion rupiah ($101,700), breaking the national record for the most expensive bird ever sold in the country.

The male pigeon, named Jayabaya, was bought by Robby Eka Wijaya in the town of Cilodong in West Java to compete in Indonesia’s booming pigeon races.

Mr Wijaya bought the pigeon from his colleague after watching it compete in a number of different competitions.

He told the ABC he made an offer the owner could not refuse because the pigeon had “special features”, including a rare consistency and “stable mood”.

“One race can last over two days and nine rounds. Often birds can only perform for four rounds, but this bird is able to get into the top 20 at every competition,” he said.

Jayabaya competed against thousands of birds from across the country last year and received the highest score in the national competition, according to Mr Wijaya.

Pigeon racing is a traditional sport in Indonesia, mainly from the island of Java, but it has rapidly gained popularity ever since the creation of a national pigeon organisation.

Robby Eka Wijaya holds a sign of the pigeon he had just purchased named Jayabaya. The type of competition varies and includes speed racing, freestyle flying, as well as a table category, where the pigeons are expected to land back on a table at a certain time after flying.

In order to get Jayabaya to return during a competition, its owner calls out for him with his “girlfriend”, a female pigeon which shares the same cage as him, which Mr Wijaya says is a common practice.

“From what I’ve observed in the past 10 years, there are only two or three birds that are like him,” he said, adding that his friends has questioned his sanity over the amount he paid.

The popularity of pigeon racing in Indonesia has been partly attributed to high profit margins. Pigeons cost around 20,000 rupiah ($2) and the winnings can range from $7,500 to $10,000, or even a brand new car.

The registration cost to compete is also relatively low at a mere $13 to $16, according to the organisation of High Pigeon Fans Indonesia (PMTI).

However, Indonesian newspaper Kompas reports that the average participant pigeon racing competitions are anywhere between 1,500 to 2,000 people, making reaching the top 20 a feat in itself.

Mr Wijaya said it would be “easy” to be able to generate profit off Jayabaya, who is estimated to be two to three years old.

“There is already someone who is willing to spend 100 million rupiah ($10,200) for a set of eggs he fathers, but I won’t sell it,” he said.

In March this year, a Chinese buyer bought a racing pigeon for 1.252 million Euros ($1.98 million) during a pigeon auction by a Belgian breeder, the most expensive pigeon of all time.

The pigeon, named Armando, was described as the Lewis Hamilton of racing pigeons and holds a variety of records including best one day long distance pigeon in Belgium.

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On Pigeon Patrol, Rufus the Hawk Rules the Skies Over Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England — Imagine the fluttering kerfuffle.

Roger Federer is serving for the Wimbledon title. He tosses the ball and cranes his neck.

Plop. A gift from a pigeon, right on the forehead.

Luckily, something like that hasn’t happened. At least not yet, not during a big match in recent memory.

For that, Wimbledon can thank a brown and chestnut bird of prey with keen eyes, a four-foot wingspan and bone-crushing talons. His name is Rufus the Hawk, and he plays a crucial role at the world’s oldest tennis tournament.

Every day, in the early morning, well before the matches begin, Rufus soars the skies over the All England Club, on the prowl for pigeons.

Without him, Wimbledon just might descend into aviary chaos. Pigeons could reign supreme, not just in the air, but also in the rafters, on the rooftops and across the grass courts.

The place is perfect for pigeons. “All of the grass seeds, all of the nooks and crannies, and the food waste from the fans,” Wayne Davis, one of Rufus’s handlers, said. Without Rufus, he reckoned, pigeons would number in the hundreds.

Wayne Davis, one of Rufus’s handlers, with a younger companion of the hawk. “Feral pigeons breed year round,” he said. “If you have just one pair breeding in the rafters at Centre Court, you would end up by the end of the year with about 40 more birds. You could have Roger Federer serving and clouds of pigeons wafting about.

“And pigeon poop, too, of course.”

Flocks of pigeons became a growing problem in the late 1990s, a threat to the prim fastidiousness that Wimbledon prizes above all. That was when the All England Club telephoned Davis and his family-run Avian Environmental Consultants.

Another of their birds was the first to patrol Wimbledon. Then Rufus the Hawk took over. He has become an English icon.

From dawn to dusk, he soars, on the prowl for pigeons. He doesn’t kill them. He toys with them, barreling from above, twisting, turning, squawking and nipping at their wings, announcing to all that the skies over Wimbledon belong to him.

“The pigeons learned he was in charge,” Davis said. “Other than a few stragglers, they stopped coming around like they did before. He scares them away.”

Rufus would have been a fearsome predator in the wild. Although he weighs just 1 pound 6 ounces, he cuts a much larger figure with his confident bearing and cascade of feathers.

He can spread his talons almost as wide as a person’s hand, and he can see 10 times better than any human. He can focus on a pigeon from a mile way.

Davis and his daughter, Imogen, feed him by hand because his weight is important. At less than a pound and a half, he can become too hungry and might have a pigeon for lunch. Maybe in front of the royal box.

They have taught him to come when they whistle.

Most often, he does.

Rufus soars and (almost) always comes back.

On one occasion three years ago, however, Imogen Davis had to chase him down at a nearby golf course. He took off again, across a road, then out of sight. She followed the jingle of his small bronze bell, attached to a talon.

She found him in the middle of a pond, standing in a thicket of weeds, hovering over a freshly killed duck. She couldn’t let him eat it. A full tummy would mean he wouldn’t come home until he was hungry again.

She waded through muck and lily pads, then through waist-high water. When she trooped back to Wimbledon, past crowds lined up to watch tennis in their finery, she had Rufus in her clutches.

One time, he vanished overnight.

Wayne Davis had left the bird in the family camper, parked outside an apartment they stay at during tournaments. Davis tucked him into the black cage that is his bedroom, and cracked a camper window just enough for ventilation. In the morning, Rufus and his cage were gone.

Someone had broken in and stolen him.

“My heart sank,” Imogen Davis said. She, her parents and her siblings had bought Rufus from a breeder when he was 16 weeks old, and he had become a member of the family.

“It was terrible,” she said. “There were a lot of tears.”

By then, Rufus had celebrity status, even a Twitter handle. The theft of Rufus the Hawk became headline news.

“Game, set and snatched,” wrote The Daily Mail.

The police said to expect someone to be in touch, demanding a ransom.

Three days went by. Then, from a phone booth, someone telephoned the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. No one knows for sure what had transpired — maybe Rufus had gotten away from the birdnappers, or maybe they decided to simply give him up — but he had been spotted in a park.

Imogen Davis, another handler, said Rufus once stayed in the Centre Court rafters overnight. The animal welfare charity picked him up. Rufus went back to work. He hasn’t missed a day since.

Imogen Davis said Rufus has taught her important lessons. Like the morning he flew into the Centre Court rafters and decided to stay there.

Two hours passed. Then five. Then 10. He still wouldn’t budge. “Luckily it wasn’t during the actual tournament,” she said, a nod to the fact that Rufus polices Wimbledon year round. She and her mother, Donna, wrapped themselves in towels and spent the night on Centre Court.

“We didn’t sleep in the royal box,” Imogen Davis said. “We didn’t sleep at all.”

The next day, Rufus came down.

The lesson was a lot like Zen: Rufus never gets ruffled. He does things in his own good time.

Has he ever, in his own good time, decided to perch in the Center Court rafters during a match?

No, Davis said. She chuckled. “But if he did, he would just stay perched up there, saying, ‘I don’t know who Roger Federer is.’”

Penticton building owner ordered to clean up heaps of pigeon droppings

Elderly tenants of a Penticton apartment building may be at risk of contracting a fatal disease due to “large accumulations” of pigeon poop in the ceiling above a fourth-floor hallway, according a public health inspector.

The warning is contained in a July 19 letter from Interior Health to the manager of King’s Court at 66 Duncan Ave. West.

Signed by environmental health officer Stephanie Carver, the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Penticton Herald, outlines findings of a July 15 inspection of the 52-unit building.

“We observed large accumulations of pigeon guano in the ceiling tiles above the fourth floor east-west hallway. The accumulation of guano was dry, indicating accumulation has occurred over time,” Carver wrote.

“A substantial amount fell out when one ceiling tile was lifted up and it was evident the hallway ceiling tiles are full of guano and other roosting material. There were also visible signs of waste dripping down the sides of the ceiling into the hallway above residents’ doors.”

Carver goes on to note pigeon poop carries diseases such as cryptococcosis, histoplasmosis, candidiasis and encephalitis, “which can be fatal to the elderly population.”

“The amount of guano that was observed is quite significant and is considered a health hazard. Our biological concerns at this point are the many disease that are found in guano that can easily spread to the occupants as well as the amount of flies that are being attracted to the area,” she added.

Despite that warning, Interior Health gave the building owner 1-1/2 months to clean up the mess.

“The guano is not in the apartment living spaces and does not currently present an imminent health risk. It will require a fair bit of work to address the issues which have built up over time, so we have given the property owner until Sept. 3 to fix the problem,” Jennifer Jacobsen, interim manager for environmental management, said in a statement.

“If it is not addressed by that time, IH can and will take additional steps, including an order under the Public Health Act and potential violation tickets. From a public health perspective, this is a problem that does need to be fixed.”

A fourth-floor resident who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals told The Herald he’s been complaining about the problem for years to the building owner, Sandy Creek Properties, but to no avail.

“They just refuse to deal with anything,” he said.

But after finding a maggot in the hallway outside his door about a month ago, the man redoubled his efforts and contacted various outside agencies, including Interior Health, the Residential Tenancy Branch and the City of Penticton.

“I’m not worried about the live birds,” he said. “I’m worried about the dead birds — that’s where the maggot came from.”

During a visit Monday, a reporter could hear what sounded like pigeons cooing and scratching in the hallway ceiling just outside the man’s door.

Sandy Creek Properties administrator Trina Murray said the company is aware of the problem and the cleanup will begin soon.

“We’ve actually had that contract out for quite some time, and I believe (the work) is starting next week,” she said in a telephone interview Monday.

Murray said she’s been with the company for a year, but wasn’t aware of previous complaints about the issue. She was also unsure if tenants will be moved out during the cleanup.

“I know there will be a process. If they need to be moved, they will be moved,” said Murray.

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‘It Stinks To High Heaven’: No Solution In Sight For Pigeon Poop Problem At Irving Park Blue Line Stop

Pigeon droppings on the Blue Line

Pigeon droppings coating the sidewalks outside a Blue Line stop have proved to be more than just a nasty nuisance. The problem also led to a bunch of finger pointing to figure out a long-term solution.

The sidewalk outside the Irving Park Blue Line stop is coated in bird waste. CBS 2 Morning Insider Lauren Victory got some odd answers when she started asking questions about how to do more than just clean up the mess, but stop it from coming back.

“This Blue Line stop is affectionately known as the pigeon poop stop,” Derek Barthel said.

The nickname for his commute might sound comical, but Barthel has literal bones to pick with the birds that created the mess, which isn’t just limited to bird poop.

“You’ll see feathers, you’ll see bones, you’ll see pigeon bodies, you’ll see cracked eggs,” he said.

Beady eyes watch your moves like Mona Lisa; the cement below painted with pigeon excrement.

“It stinks to high heaven around here,” Barthel said.

The pigeons at the Irving Park underpass below the Kennedy Expressway drop waste right and left, forcing bus and train riders into a game of hopscotch.

Barthel said he’s even had some close calls “with getting hit in the face with a pigeon.”

“it’s not funny at all when you’ve got pets at home, and you’ve got to keep your shoes away from them, because they’ll lick them and get sick,” Barthel said. “It’s a public health issue. There’s pregnant women, there’s elderly, there’s sick, there’s children walking through day in and day out.”

That’s why Barthel wants more than just a clean-up.

“The problem first of all needs to be solved in the long-term,” he said.

Some have tried by installing bird spikes to keep the pigeons away from the underpass, but their solutions are in disrepair, as many of the strips have fallen off.

Perhaps jurisdiction complicates matters. The pigeons are hanging out on property half of which belongs to the CTA, the other half to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Hosing off the sidewalk falls to the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, but cleaning the sidewalks won’t get rid of the pigeons making the mess. Not to mention, the south side of the underpass is in the 45th Ward, and the north side is in the 39th Ward.

“I’ve been on the phone with them (the 39th Ward) no fewer than three times,” Barthel said.

When CBS 2 reached out to 39th Ward Alderman Samantha Nugent’s office, a spokesperson brought up someone else to blame. He said feeding the pigeons only exacerbates the problem, and also noted it’s illegal to feed pigeons in Chicago.

Signs near the underpass reminding people of the $500 fines for feeding pigeons are dilapidated and faded, and in need of replacement.

Within less than a day of CBS 2 contacting the city, the sidewalk had been cleaned of pigeon poop.

However, it doesn’t seem like the long-term problem will be fixed for good anytime soon.

The Illinois Department of Transportation said bird barriers or shields would interfere with bridge safety inspections. Just like Nugent’s office, IDOT also wagged a finger at people who feed the pigeons.

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Johor blames pigeon droppings for Pasir Gudang pupils’ breathing problems

JOHOR BAHRU: The state government said the recurrence of breathing issues and vomiting among pupils of SK Tanjung Puteri Resort in Pasir Gudang here could also be due to constant pigeon droppings in some of the classrooms.

State Health and Culture Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said the unpleasant odour of the bird droppings had been affecting some of the pupils for some time.

“This may also be among the factors (causing the pupils to experience shortness of breath and vomiting). So we request the ministry of education to immediately address this because you ladies and gentlemen (the journalists present there) have already seen the condition (of the area affected by bird droppings),” he told reporters after visiting the school today.

Meanwhile, state Education, Human Resources, Science and Technology Committee chairman Aminolhuda Hassan, who also visited the school, said the bird droppings were not only found on the ground floor, but also on the school’s fourth-floor balcony.

“This has been happening for a long time now. Otherwise, how can there be such a large amount of droppings?

“I was informed that the ministry had come to visit (the school) and it is hoped that action will be taken to prevent the birds from entering the roofs of the classrooms and that cleaning work can begin immediately,” he said.

He also urged the school administration to temporarily use other classes to prevent the pupils from suffering further discomfort.

Meanwhile, Johor Health Department director Dr Selahuddeen Abd Aziz said the bird droppings could cause more severe breathing difficulties for pupils compared with what they had experienced so far.

“In health terminology, we call it ‘hypersensitivity pneumonitis’ or ‘Pigeon Breeder’s Lung’ which may lead to symptoms such as shortness of breath, but it depends on how long they have been exposed to the droppings,” he said.

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Glasgow Hospital Spends More than $500,000 to Kill Pests after Pigeon Droppings Crisis

Glasgow Hospital Spends More than $500,000 to Kill Pests after Pigeon Droppings Crisis

Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has spent 450,000 £ ($545,236) to kill pests after deaths linked to pigeon droppings, according to the Daily Record.

Pest teams at the hospital have had to shoot pigeons, install anti-bird spikes and netting and use chemicals to kill mold and fungus since January.

Combatting vermin at the hospital accounts for more than half of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s entire spend on pest control for all of its facilities in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire.

Two patients at the hospital, a 10-year-old boy and a 73-year-old woman, were being treated for the fungal infection cryptococcus before they died.

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Glasgow super hospital coughs up £450k to kill pests after pigeon droppings crisis

Glasgow super hospital coughs up £450k to kill pests after pigeon droppings crisis

Pest teams at the QEUH have had to shoot pigeons, install anti-bird spikes and netting and use chemicals to kill mould and fungus since January.

Health bosses at the hospital where patients died after catching an infection linked to pigeon droppings have spent almost £450,000 on pest control since it opened.

Pest teams at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow have had to shoot pigeons, install anti-bird spikes and netting and use chemicals to kill mould and fungus since January.

Combatting vermin at the £842 million hospital accounts for more than half of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s entire spend on pest control for all of its facilities in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire.

It was revealed in January two patients, a 10-year-old boy and a 73-year-old woman, were being treated for the fungal infection cryptococcus before they died.

The cryptococcus fungus, which is found in pigeon droppings and soil, can cause infection when inhaled.

The organism is harmless to most people but can pose a risk to sick people with reduced immunity.

The infection was found to be a factor in the boy’s death but the pensioner died from an unrelated cause.

Other patients thought to be at risk were tested and two others tested positive for another fungal infection – mucor.

One of them, grandmother Mito Kaur, 63, died in March.

Since summer 2015, pest control firm GP Environmental made almost 2500 call outs to NHSGGC sites and were paid £850,000. Less than a fifth of the visits were to the new hospital.

The figures from a Freedom of Information request to NHSGGC has revealed the contractor was called out to the QEUH campus more than 420 times at a cost of over £448,000.

The pest control teams recorded visiting the campus in early December last year to deal with pigeon droppings in a 12th floor plant room and, in the four weeks that followed, cleaned 13 others.

An NHSGGC spokesman said: “We continuously and actively review pest prevention and control requirements through regular audits in all hospitals and premises.

“This significantly reduces pest issues.”

Pigeon droppings not a factor in Pasir Gudang health woes

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Science can assist with removing pigeons

Science can assist with removing pigeons

Many commented and 110 people completed our online poll, with 54 per cent voting the best way to deal with the pigeons was to shoot them.

There are several ways to remove pigeons from cities: by shooting, using a repellent gel on buildings and placing birth control pellets on buildings.

The numbers vary across the year, depending on this cycle. The adults drop the eggs and leave and come back the next breeding season to breed again. The breeding cycles are in May-June and also in November.

The predominant pigeon species here is Columba livia. They are a declared pest species and they carry five diseases, which are transmittable to humans via droppings. These are: Encephalitis, Histoplasmosis, Candidiasis, Salmonellosis and E coli.

These diseases transmit to humans through the droppings being disturbed. The dust goes into the lungs.

There is also damage to buildings because the droppings are quite acidic. About 100 pigeons can produce up to 2000kg of droppings a year.

Pigeon droppings littering a staircase

Stonemason and bricklayer Ron Doyle, of Brian Doyle Stonemasons, Crookwell, said the droppings should not be allowed to build up.

“The rain softens it and it becomes quite acidic and then starts damaging the brickwork,” Mr Doyle said.

New Zealand company Adler removes pest birds from buildings by applying a gel to them.

“The gel works on the sensory (smell) and optical nerves (sight) in pigeons and most other birds. To them it smells offensive and looks like fire,” a company spokesperson said.

The gel contains citronella and other plant based ingredients and is nontoxic to humans, animals and aquatic life.

“It will not cause long-term adverse effects in the environment,” they said.

The company usually operates on behalf of property managers who are interested in protecting their own buildings.

“A typical installation is on ledges, parapets, beams above pedestrian areas and in and around heating, ventilating and air-conditioning units on roofs, where pigeons typically build their nests,” they said.

“It’s a case of scoping each property with the problem and addressing it. A targeted approach is best and most effective.”

Another method called OvoControl involves placing birth control bait in feeders.

Goulburn resident Ron McLaughlin came across this while travelling in America.

“It has been very successful in some neighbourhoods in American cities as well as in Spain,” he said.

OvoControl interferes with the reproduction of birds, specifically with with egg hatch ability, causing the population to decline. This effective and humane technology is especially useful for managing pigeon flocks in larger areas without having to resort to poisons.

Pigeons breed rapidly. Just five mating pairs can produce up to 400 pigeons in only two years. Fortunately, the life-span of urban pigeons is relatively short, limited to about three years.

According to a statement by OvoControl, field studies have shown a reduction of 50 per cent annually, after using it.

Recently, data at a site in San Diego reported an 88% decline over 28 months.

The August 6 Goulburn Mulwaree Council meeting adopted a Draft Pigeon and Pest Bird policy. This policy is on public exhibition for 28 days for submissions.

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Pigeon droppings health risk – should you worry?

Pigeon droppings health risk – should you worry?

An infection linked to pigeon droppings was a “contributing factor” in the death of a child at a Glasgow hospital, it has been confirmed.

The child was being treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital when he or she appears to have caught the infection – a fungus called cryptococcus.

The child has not been named. The fungus did not contribute to the death in December of a second patient infected with the same pathogen, say experts.

What is it?

Cryptococcus is a yeast-like fungus that lives in the environment.

It can be found in soil contaminated by pigeon droppings.

How can you catch it?

People can become infected if they breathe it in.

The child who died in December at the hospital in Glasgow had been exposed to the fungus.

Experts say the probable source has been traced to a room on the rooftop of the hospital. Pigeon droppings appeared in the room via a small break in the wall which was “invisible to the naked eye”, Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman confirmed.

The hospital says it has put infection control measures in place and no further cases have been reported.

How risky is it?

Most won’t get sick, but vulnerable people with already weakened immunity can get very ill with a chest infection or meningitis.

Expert Prof Hugh Pennington says it is very unusual to see cases in the UK.

“It is common in other parts of the world, particularly tropical parts, in the US and countries like that where they have more problems with this particular kind of fungus. But in the UK, very uncommon.

“There are cases in people who have problems with their immune systems. They’re the people who are at risk with this kind of bug.”

Cryptococcus infection cannot spread from person to person.

How dangerous is pigeon poo?

Breathing dust or water droplets containing contaminated bird droppings can lead to several diseases, including a flu-like illness called psittacosis.

Salmonella – a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhoea – may also be present in some bird droppings.

If you are cleaning up or come into contact with droppings, you should take precautions. Wash your hands and clean any exposed skin before eating, drinking or putting your hands near your mouth.

Likewise, if you are feeding or handling birds, wash your hands afterwards.

If you have a compromised immune system, including from HIV/AIDS or cancer, you should not clean up droppings.

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Sick pigeons downtown might have been poisoned

Sick pigeons downtown might have been poisoned

“It can be a very painful death.”

A local wildlife organization is concerned about the number of sick pigeons it’s finding in Regina’s downtown.

Megan Lawrence, director of rehabilitation for Salthaven West, said her organization is frequently called for reports of pigeons in distress.

She said Salthaven has been dealing with the birds for years now and fears they might have been poisoned.

“On average we’re seeing a poisoned pigeon every two to three weeks,” she said, adding those numbers increase in the summer. “It’s not a very humane death. Their temperature skyrockets; it can be a very painful death.”

“By the time we receive them, they’re having violent seizures,” she said. “The only thing we can do to get rid of the poison in their system is basically flush it out.”

Lawrence said she’s heard that some businesses downtown may be using poison in order to detract the birds from congregating on rooftops and other roosting points on buildings. However, she wasn’t able to offer any proof for her claims or pinpoint specific businesses and said she hasn’t spoken to any business owners herself.

The Leader-Post contacted some downtown businesses to see how they control the pigeon population. None of the businesses who responded said they use poison or have had an issue with pigeon overpopulation.

Kevin Lang, building manager for the Ramada Plaza located on Victoria Avenue, said while he has inquired with pest control companies about using poison to stop pigeons from roosting on the hotel’s roof, he’s never used it.

“I’ve been told … it affects the other (types of) birds,” he said. “(If) you put poison out, it can be consumed by anything that lands on our roof, which is not environmentally friendly.”

Instead, the hotel uses cages to keep them out. He said without them, pigeons can get into ventilation equipment and leave feathers in the rooftop coils.

Lawrence said if pigeons ingest poison, they aren’t the only ones who suffer. Animals who eat pigeons could be affected.

“If a Peregrine falcon was to eat one of those pigeons that had ingested the poison, the falcon is also going to get the poison and perhaps die as well,” she said.

Half of the pigeons they receive, she said, end up dying.

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B.C.’s solution to tackling the pigeon problem on SkyTrain? Birth control

B.C.’s solution to tackling the pigeon problem on SkyTrain? Birth control

Pigeons can be a real problem on B.C.’s SkyTrain transit system.

While the droppings are messy enough, the birds also put customer safety at risk. TransLink says they trigger track intrusion alarms, which can cause the driverless trains to brake automatically, leading to customer falls and service delays.

So TransLink and the BC SPCA have come up with a solution to help reduce the pigeon population at the VCC-Clark SkyTrain Station — birth control.

As part of a pilot project to control the population, an automatic bird feeder will be dispensing OvoControl.

TransLink says it is a non-toxic, effective and humane contraception used in other cities to prevent pigeon reproduction and reduce populations naturally.

TransLink has already put up nets at stations, set up spikes and strips to deter them from roosting and hired a falconer to patrol stations with the most pigeons.

The move to provide birth control is being supported by wildlife and animal groups.

“Wildlife Rescue strives to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the urban environment and rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife,” Linda Bakker, co-executive director of the B.C. Wildlife Rescue Association said in a release.

“This project aims to humanely reduce the number of pigeons at areas that have a lot of potential casualties and injuries in pigeons. This project will reduce the number of injured, deceased and orphaned pigeons in these areas. Wildlife Rescue supports the BC SPCA in promoting humane wildlife management practices.”

According to TransLink, studies have shown a 50 to 90 per cent population reduction in OvoControl-managed pigeon populations, as those who eat the bait pellets regularly will not be able to fertilize eggs.

The BC SPCA says with fewer new pigeons born, the population around the SkyTrain stations will be naturally reduced and fewer operational issues will result.

“OvoControl has been approved for use by Health Canada and only has contraceptive effects in birds,” Dr. Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with the BC SPCA, said in a release.

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Advocate questions decision to kill pigeons pooping on Sid Buckwold Bridge

Crews tasked with cleaning a Saskatchewan bridge are in for a dirty job.

The City of Saskatoon said that over the last 50 years one of its bridges has accumulated nearly 350 tonnes of pigeon poop – which is roughly equal to 230 cars parked on the bridge.

It said the feces adds unnecessary weight and the pigeon droppings contain uric acid which can damage concrete.

The facelift also means the extermination of about 1,500 members of the feathered flock that makes the Sid Buckwold Bridge home.

The city said relocating or displacing the birds is not recommended because they are likely to fly back or move into other private properties or civic spaces.

A local wildlife advocate is disappointed and questions why alternatives can’t be found that would allow the birds to live.

“In Saskatchewan, a very, very, very common response is if it pisses you off, shoot it,” said Jan Shadick, volunteer director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Shadick blames Saskatoon’s approach on a regional attitude towards so-called pesky wildlife.

“Everybody’s getting really mad at the pigeons, but if you didn’t clean your house for 50 years, I’m going to guess it would probably be condemned.”

In emails to The Canadian Press, a city spokesman says the bridge was designed with more than 30 cavities underneath, which make the structure rather cosy for pigeons to nest, but are difficult to reach.

“The challenge has always been access to these areas. They are essentially inaccessible over the river and the most efficient plan was to wait until the bridge rehab project,” Mark Rogstad wrote.

Clearing out the pigeons and their poop was set to begin this week. The city says once finished, it will take steps to deter the birds from renesting.

Canadian cities take different approaches to dealing with pigeons.

On other bridges in Saskatoon, the city uses mesh and barriers to prevent roosting and utilizes falcons around its waste-water treatment plant and landfill.

Regina and Vancouver rely on pigeon spikes, protective netting or cages to keep pigeons off their facilities.

Toronto and Calgary do not practice pigeon control.

A spokeswoman for the city of Ottawa said there’s no bylaw for regulating wild animals on private property, but the city recommends that people animal-proof their homes.

Shadick said she supports non-lethal ways to manage wildlife and believes if Saskatoon wants to be seen as an environmentally friendly, forward-thinking city it should rethink its plan.

“The pigeons are simply doing what they do,” she said.

“They’re living. They’re eating. They’re procreating. They’re being pigeons. They’re being birds.”

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