There ARE other solutions

Pigeon and other wildlife numbers can be reduced without having to resort to unpopular, inhumane and ineffective killing methods that form the financial foundation of pest control companies across the globe. The solution has to be well thought out; it must be tailored to each location and species. It must encompass all the factors involved, for pigeons, that includes removing food sources and pigeon-proofing the city's buildings.

The environment we all live in is a complex group of factors that accommodate, affect and control our populations. The fundamentals of these environmental factors include geography, temperature, available food, available homes, predation & disease. Unlike humans, other animals are unable to manipulate these factors. They survive only in environments that provide them with sufficient resources and a survivable climate. Some successfully adaptable species, including pigeons, have found that our cities provide them with the suite of resources they require: housing, food and protection from the climate. By adjusting their access to those resources their population can be controlled naturally, without killing a single one.

Shooting the pigeons or operating any other form of lethal control serves only to reduce the older population (this happens by default as it is the older and infirmed birds that are more likely to take the bait and the slowest to escape a gunfire attack). This leaves a younger and healthier population with a sudden relative increase in food resources and roosting sites which inevitably leads to a sudden population growth.

See this population graph opens a new window

by the American Urban Wildlife Society which shows how the population reacts under lethal and non-lethal control strategies.
Only a few countries still persist with culling as a method of control. Other countries - including most of Europe - have chosen to learn from their earlier mistakes. They now understand that culling exacerbates the problem.

Below is a link to an excellent video entitled "Pigeons in the city" about the different perceived problems with pigeons and the successful solutions being practiced in Europe.

Pigeons in the city - 22.6MB RealPlayer download downloads video file

Pigeons in the city - 3.9MB RealPlayer download downloads video file

The below is streaming video of "Pigeons in the city" 47.9MB (push play to start streaming)