From DNA Info:Commuters at a subway station in Queens are now being greeted with more than just the sounds of a rumbling train.
The MTA is using recordings of "predatory bird calls," at the 52nd Street station in Woodside, one tactic in a multi-faceted $250,000 effort to keep pigeons from roosting — and pooping — there.
The feature was installed at the station earlier this month, an MTA spokeswoman said and the Sunnyside Post first reported.
The squawking, shrieking and chirping sounds are meant to mimic birds of prey, like a hawk, and are played randomly through small speakers underneath the station.
13 comments:
What about pigeon rights?
Where is PETA on this?
Police and Sanitation do not enforce law that prohibits pigeon feeding.
We have a pigeon and rat problem, because we have a garbage problem because people do not know how to dispose of garbage properly. We waste more money on all kind of shit like this instead of the powerful thing we have "Enforcement of Laws", which we rarely use, especially when it comes to the garbage issue.
If you did not have garbage all over the place, if you had garbage cans properly covered, then there would not be a pigeon or rat problem. Common sense.
Anon No. 1: Pigeons are not being hurt. Ergo, that organization won't get involved. The people who are dumping tons of bird seed in the park (are you one of them?) may have to go elsewhere to feed the birds (along with assorted vermin).
We have a people problem that is much greater than the pigeon "problem".
I am a bird lover. A couple of times I have seen a man go into that nearby 52nds Street park and literally dump multiple bags of bird seed. This resulted in a huge pile of bird seed on the ground. Birds should not be fed on the ground, a bird feeder must be elevated.
Is it possible that he is doing the pigeon feeding at the direction of nearby Chinese restaurants who trap them for food and sell it as chicken? Or there have been cases where people trap the pigeons, transporting them to live pigeon shoots. Is he working for them?
I agree with the poster who stated that garbage cans must be covered. A lot of times, they're not.
What I don't agree with is the mass hysteria around pigeons. There are people who are filthier and more annoying than a pigeon will ever be. A lot of them live in the Sunnyside/Woodside area and immigrated here. Sometimes I wonder if they come here to make Queens a garbage heap?
I would vote for a similar set up of predatory sounds that drives out the illegal aliens from our city. If it works for pigeons it must work on people.
"Police and Sanitation do not enforce law that prohibits pigeon feeding."
You are right but if they did there would be public outrage about how the police are harassing people and they are abusing there powers.
And if the person feeding the birds happened to be black or hispanic the city and the cop or sanitation agent would be sued for racial profiling.
"I would vote for a similar set up of predatory sounds that drives out the illegal aliens from our city."
HA HA I LOVE IT!!!!
Great Idea.
Too bad they can't find a device that repels the illegal aliens who litter all over woodside. No pigeons, no litter and no illegals.
"Police and Sanitation do not enforce law that prohibits pigeon feeding."
You are right but if they did there would be public outrage about how the police are harassing people and they are abusing there powers.
And if the person feeding the birds happened to be black or hispanic the city and the cop or sanitation agent would be sued for racial profiling.
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Couldn't have put it any better. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Getting away from the politics and back to the biology, it is very likely that the success will be temporary. Pigeons are smart and adaptable. At some point, they will learn that the noises mean nothing and can be ignored without consequence. We will have a very expensive predatorry bird sound system that does nothing except entertain passengers.
There is no law against pigeon feeding tho' it is 'prohibited' / discouraged in parks.
Bird seed does not have to be off the ground. If a person leaves a reasonable amount, the birds will eat it all - no garbage. Sometimes people who leave seed leave too much, that is true, but not that often. It is typically consumed from what I've seen (what may be left behind is when people leave old stale bread or rolls).
Pigeons are one of the only forms of wildlife children in a city encounter. There was a paper done called "The Pigeon Paradox" in which it was found if children in cities learned to appreciate wildlife, such as pigeons and squirrels which are pretty much all they are exposed to, as adults they would treat the environment and animals better compared to if they just were taught to dislike those species and hate them. They would have better understanding of the environment, their role in it, and more empathy and consideration for it.
Garbage that is contained, as someone noted, will help reduce the rat population - that is always preferable over poisons.
Pigeons are basically human dependent at this point. They were heroes in World Wars (were messengers to help allies) and held in high esteem until the last fifty years.
We really need a world where we are more inclusive of other species. If someone was just assigned to clean up any "poop," that would be the way to go. As in when leaves from trees fall, people rake the leaves. If there is an amount of droppings that need to be cleaned, that should be washed away.
Getting away from the politics and back to the biology, it is very likely that the success will be temporary. Pigeons are smart and adaptable. At some point, they will learn that the noises mean nothing and can be ignored without consequence. We will have a very expensive predatorry bird sound system that does nothing except entertain passengers.
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Maybe then the MTA will then import a few real live predatory creatures. The winged kind, not the third world ghetto kind.
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