POOLE is one of the biggest spenders on bird control in England, according to new figures.
According to data from a Freedom of Information request by the BBC, the authority has spent £45,060 over the past three years on measures to control pigeons and gulls.
This places it 14th on a table of the biggest spenders, although some way behind leader the London Borough of Southwark which has spent more than £390,000 since 2013.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, a spokesman for the authority said it spends £24,000 per year on bird control at its waste transfer station.
Councillor John Rampton, cabinet member for environment, said: “It is a requirement of the operating licence of the Waste Transfer Station to control the bird presence on site.
“Without controls in place we would be in breach of the site licence and at risk of prosecution.
“The use of a licensed bird of prey is an industry standard way of managing birds and is the most humane way of controlling their numbers at the site. Other deterrents are unable to be used in this case due to the proximity to protected land and wildlife.”
The bird of prey is not released and is simply used as a deterrent.
It is not clear whether or not Bournemouth council has responded to the FOI request, but the authority was unable to provide figures to the Daily Echo on Friday.
A spokesman said: “Our pest control team now only has one person – this means that a lot of the work to control birds in the town centre is subcontracted out to the private sector.
“We cannot touch gulls anyway as they are a protected species.”
The BBC report found the amount of money spent nationally among two-thirds of England’s councils had doubled from £452,000 in 2013-2014 to £830,000 in 2015-2016.
Of 103 authorities that explained what methods of control they used, 12 said they employed marksmen to shoot pigeons, 12 used hawks and 46 used spikes to discourage pigeons landing.
Gulls, in particular, have been the subject of much discussion in recent years due to rising reports of them attacking people and pets. Herring gulls are listed as a vulnerable species and protected.
In August last year Bournemouth councillor Michael Filer said the authority had few powers to interfere with the birds, limited to using netting and wires in highly populated areas and potentially removing eggs from nests – a process described as expensive.
Natural England published advice on gull control in 2015, saying local authorities should use netting to discourage birds from nesting in specific areas, keep food waste facilities secure and discourage the feeding of birds by members of the public.
A general licence is in place allowing councils to remove the nests and eggs of gulls where they pose a risk to “public health and safety”, and it also allows for the “lethal control” of black-backed gulls.
Last week it was reported that “vigilantes” in Berwick-upon-Tweed have been arming themselves with guns and carrying out their own gull cull.
Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the impromptu pest control was “appreciated in some quarters” but “brought the risk that people are having to take the law into their own hands to deal with these really difficult and aggressive birds”.
Like all wild birds, gulls and their eggs and nests are protected from the public under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
According to environment minister Therese Coffey the government has commissioned research to look into contraceptives for gulls, but there are no plans to change their legal protection.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Doha: A race of carrier pigeons were held recently from Al-Qassim in Saudi Arabia to Hazm Al-Markhiya in Doha.
The 800-kilometre challenge was organized by the carrier pigeon section of Youth Hobbies Center, which comes under the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The popular race saw 16 competitors with 222 carrier-pigeons taking part.
Setting a record, the pigeons reached the destination at the Youth Hobbies Centre building at Hazm Al-Markhiya in Doha on the same day starting from Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
One of the participants from Qatar said: “The record and the enthusiasm of participants in this race may help to developing this hobby in the country.”
Ali Al Ajmi came first in the challenge with his champion pigeon. Injaz Loft with two pigeons stood second and third. Pigeon of Khaled Al-Emadi was fourth, Katara Loft fifth, Rawdat Al Hamama came sixth and pigeons named Darb Al Saei took positions from seven to eleven.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Hackney Council’s proactive work to rid the streets of pigeons and gulls has made it the second biggest spender on bird control in the country.
Figures obtained by the BBC show the town hall forked out £162,683 between 2013 and 2016 on ridding streets of pigeons and gulls, second only to Southwark.
The sum has been put down to the town hall staying ahead of the problem.
Neighbourhoods and parks boss Cllr Feryal Demirci, said: “Our in house pest control team proactively deals with pigeons on our 35,000 council homes as well as private homes and commercial premises.
“Prevention is better than cure, so last year we installed pigeon proofing measures on over 500 buildings.
“This means we get relatively few complaints about pigeons from residents, as we try and sort the situation out before it becomes too serious.”
Dee Ward-Thompson, technical manager at the British Pest Control Association, said proofing was the ultimate way to tackle the problem.
“It’s the best solution,” she told the Gazette. “Proactive work is the right way to go about it and we fully support that. “But if you do one building it can encourage them to move on to the one next door. What a lot of councils are doing is working with other building owners to proof as many as possible.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Around 2,500 pigeons preened their feathers and strutted their stuff as their owners competed for ‘bird of the year’.
For the 40th year on the run the British Homing World Show was held at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, with an estimated 25,000 breeders and fans travelling from across Europe to be at the event.
And the bird that came out on top was presented to adoring fans by breeder John Bell of Ayrshire – who lifted the trophy for the fifth time.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Summary: Ramesh Prajapati, a paan seller, has his stall touching the boundary of the culling site. “But when we asked the cops, they told us that some birds were being killed by the corporation. Ahmedabad: In a swift late-night operation on Friday, the animal husbandry department culled more than 159 birds, including a duck and three pigeons, at the makeshift bird rescue centre at Sarva Dharma Raksha Trust situated near St Xavier’s School Loyola Hall. He further said that he came to know about the culling from the media.Kishan Sharma, a senior citizen, said they were not even aware that birds had been culled in the area. Later on Friday, the department sealed the site and declared it dangerous to go inside.
Ahmedabad: In a swift late-night operation on Friday, the animal husbandry department culled more than 159 birds, including a duck and three pigeons, at the makeshift bird rescue centre at Sarva Dharma Raksha Trust situated near St Xavier’s School Loyola Hall. Three infected birds, including a duck, a rock pigeon (common pigeon) and guineafowl, were also among those culled.Animal husbandry department officials said that the decision to cull the birds was taken after officials received a mail from the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal. The mail stated that the samples of guineafowl droppings sent to them were bird flu positive and infected by the H5N1 virus.It was on January 3 that one Banarasilal Sonkar, a resident of Allahabad, had left these birds in a shallow wasteland on SP Ring Road, Vastral.
Of the 1,400 birds, around 155 were brought to the makeshift rescue centre in Memnagar locality.However, despite the protocol mandating that the area should be sealed, neither the AMC nor the animal husbandry department carry out an awareness exercise. Ramesh Prajapati, a paan seller, has his stall touching the boundary of the culling site.”My stall is near the affected site,” Prajapati said. “On Friday, I came here and set up my makeshift shop with other vendors.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani pigeon fancier has taught his pet to fly alongside him while he rode a motorbike at 50mph.
The man was filmed travelling along a road at sunset while the pigeon fluttered alongside him. He released the bird after starting up his motorbike and it flew just behind him as he built up speed. After a few minutes, the pigeon was clearly straining to keep up, so the man pulled up by the roadside to give it rest.
Racing pigeons usually travel at speeds just under 40mph and are known for their ability to navigate home across long distances. A recent study found that pigeons increase their homing speed by around 7mph while travelling through polluted conditions. Scientists are not certain why this happens, but it may be because pigeons do not like the smell of fog. So they fly faster to get away from it.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
