Sorry for the seagulls, yes, but better for the people in airplanes that are not sucking seagulls into their engines....
That doesn't tend to end well. And/or better for the people in the superhospital here who have been coming down with lung infections as the result of excess pigeon droppings aerosoling and getting into the ventilation. We've had a few people die here recently due to design flaws in the DeathStar hospital down south of the river that are traced directly back to the pigeons. (And they do have a lot of pigeons down there - there's also a major bus stop we've used.) I'd rather see them use this type of animal control (flying birds of prey to scare off pigeons, etc.) than setting out poison, as they do in the States. That's just gross. When I was in my early 20s I and came around the corner of a building to find a greenspace about half the size of a football field that was covered (as in every couple of feet) with writhing, dying pigeons. They were not having a peaceful end; they suffered for quite some time. The Uni had set out poison for them. It worked. Eventually. I'd much rather see a few sacrificial pigeons potentially caught by a hawk, and the rest scared away, any time.
It would be a lovely job, though, to house and care for the hawks. Beautiful animals. With personalities. And, of course, I can't do it. If I go into a pet store that has birds (I haven't seen that here?) I have to be careful to stay away from the birds and, ideally, breathe through a heavy-duty particulate filter. Otherwise, I risk having my lungs go fibrotic and be six feet under shortly thereafter. I do still feed the birds out back, though. And at the gardens I'll throw seeds for the pigeons - just not anywhere near me.
In the Bird Watch this weekend I set out a half-bag of mixed seed. In the hour I watched I only saw five wood pigeons, two magpies, and one little guy who had a bit of red above his bill and onto the top of his head. Tiny thing. I couldn't get a really good look at him, unfortunately, and not entirely sure what he was. But I reported them all in the bird count. Will be interesting to see the results, overall.
