The spread of pigeons is one A common problem among many cities and towns From the country. And it's not just a problem DirtBut it is healthy because urban pigeon pests can move Diseases such as pneumonia and salmonellosis. In addition, these birds are also carriers of various parasites, including bed bugs, ticks and pigeon flies.
For all this, city councils have been struggling for years to put an end to this plague in very different ways. One way to do this is by using birds of prey, mainly hawks and eagles, To repel pigeon colonies. This is what they want to do in Barcelona, where a pilot test has been presented that will take place for about two weeks Camp Nou.
Pigeons are very loyal birds to the places where they find food, rest places and build their nests, so if something is presented that breaks this rest they are very likely to leave the area, which is exactly what they want to achieve. Four birds of prey will participate in the project: A hawk and three Harris eagles.
The hawk, which flies at a higher altitude, will be used in open areas, such as the Camp Nou itself, while the eagles, which fly at a lower altitude, will be used in more crowded streets. Albert Thomas, technical director of Soma Wildlife Control, explains The goal is not to kill the pigeons:
“We don't take direct action on the pigeons, we just let the pigeons see the birds of prey and then leave.”
Carme Mattei, Director of the Animal Rights Service at Barcelona City Council, explains that apart from the measures related to birds of prey, other measures will continue to be taken to End the pigeon plague in the city.
The need will be insisted upon No neighbor feeds them Instead, it will be easier for them Contraceptive nutrition To prevent them from continuing to reproduce. In this way, in the last five years it has been possible to reduce the number of pigeons in the Catalan capital by 60%.
The council currently has 44 contraceptive feed dispensers distributed across the city to deal with the 36 colonies found there. One of these colonies is located in the neighborhood of Poble Sec, where residents live in despair, where the plague of pigeons joins another plague of rats and cockroaches.
If the pilot plan now launched around Camp Nou is successful, the city council will evaluate whether it can be extrapolated to other areas of the city.
Some precedents
The system of biological control of pigeon pest has been applied for years with greater or less success. It was used in Girona in 2005, and also in Tarragona – last time 3 years ago -. And very recently in Morel, Tarragones.
This same system has also been used before RCD Espanyol In 2013. The club then hired a falconer to eradicate the pigeon epidemic that was at that time affecting the Cornellà el Prat park. Thanks to the falcon, the pigeons stopped eating the seeds.
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