It is not true that you cannot live with pigeons in the city. Here are 10 tips from Lipu to keep pigeons peacefully (also) in the city.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Pigeons in the city. Yes, even with them it is possible cohabit among the urban streets. Their ever greater presence, let's face it all, puts us a little bored, if only this species is often considered responsible for dirtying a little everywhere.
In some cases, in fact, it is on the pigeon that you point your finger for the dirt of sidewalks, buildings and historical and artistic monuments. Furthermore, the pigeons would also be held responsible for causing damage to agricultural productions or interfere with airport traffic.
But know that it is possible to find solutions and meeting points that are respectful of the well-being of these animals and of the ecological and non-violent balances (such as direct killings or poisonings, remember the case of Como?).
In this regard, Lipu-BirdLife presented the new Document on the city pigeon, a sort of Decalogue for a correct management of the presence of pigeons in the city, aimed at institutions and ordinary people so that we can reach a peaceful and lasting coexistence, respecting the needs of urban decorum and hygiene but also of animals and their ecological needs.
“Our Document is based on three basic messages for a correct management of the pigeon, from which derive the rules we want to spread - says Fulvio Mamone Capria, president of Lipu. The first concerns human behavior, the second the need for an integrated strategy, involving operators, citizens and institutions, and the third the specific need to reduce nesting sites and the food available to the species, which does not give real benefits to pigeons and indeed, paradoxically, it can create problems for them. This is the only way to obtain good results and satisfactory management for everyone ".
Here are the 10 rules for correct management techniques:
1) conscious architectural design: that is, we should aim at the construction of buildings that do not encourage the presence and nesting of the pigeon without preventing access to other species such as swifts, sparrows, birds of prey and bats
2) use of bollards non-violent support
3) use of anti-intrusion networks to prevent the access of pigeons in balconies, sheds, courtyards, arcades and bell towers, without prejudice to the reproductive period and without preventing access to other species (swifts, sparrows, redstart and bats)
4) limits to the administration of additional food and not very nutritious (such as bread and pasta), considering that the pigeon already finds abundant food in the cities and surrounding areas, and that they improve waste disposal and public hygiene
5) information and awareness campaigns towards the public and operators, based on ethical data, technical and scientific contents
6) increase of natural predators, such as the peregrine falcon and the tawny owl (birds of prey found in cities) or the jackdaw
7) setting up of dovecotes in urban parks, managed directly by the municipalities
8) censuses and monitoring, essential for an effective pigeon management strategy
9) improvement ofpublic hygiene
10) use, in areas other than urban ones, of optical and integrated deterrents, for example at airports and for the prevention of damage in agriculture.
La Lipu obviously advises against catching and killing, chemical sterilization and falconry.
“The latter, as well as being ethically unacceptable - explains the president Lipu - is based on the erroneous assumption that the prey leaves the area in the presence of the predator. If anything, the prey limits itself to hiding from its sight, and then returns to frequent the area and also to nest there, as shown by the nests that the pigeon has built in the city even near those built by the peregrine falcon ".
In short, with the right precautions and a little tolerance, even the question of city pigeons can find shareable solutions!
Germana Carillo
READ also:
How to remove pigeons from the balcony naturally
