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Signs telling people not to feed birds in Nathan Phillips Square were suddenly installed and just as suddenly removed over the past week, reports the Toronto Star.
Torontoist thought the signs gave some pretty compelling reasons for their all-too-brief existence. Feeding birds distorts their nutrition, migration, and breeding patterns. Also, guano is a nuisance (as many bike and car owners will tell you) and a health hazard, even if in less than Dr. No-like quantities.
Yet the signs were removed. Why? Apparently, City officials were worried that they came across as being too negative, in that some people might resent being told what not to do. Those people who scatter bits of bread while chuckling maniacially? They have feelings too, you know. Less negative signs will be on their way...soon. This isn't so much Hitchcockian as Kafkaesque.
Toronto may wish to look to London [England!] for inspiration, where Mayor Ken Livingstone went so far as to criminalize the feeding of birds in the city's main square, Trafalgar Square, unless authorized by him personally. It dovetails (ahem) nicely with his overall strategy of improving access to public spaces. Bird numbers are down, people numbers are up, and everyone seems happy.
But what about those Londoners who scatter a loaf or two? Seems like they were won over by the fact that "scientific monitoring undertaken on a basis agreed in advance with supporters of the pigeons has confirmed that [the ban on feeding] has been achieved without cruelty to the birds."
Might this be a lesson for our friends in City Hall: if you want to do something, begin by pre-emptively approaching and winning over the people most likely to oppose you?
Photo by Moonwire in the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Here's another idea: Let's find a way to poison pigeons and seagulls en masse. Birds aren't a problem; those two specific species are.
Amen. Rek is my hero.
There are also plenty of retired folks around High Park who think nothing of feeding the enormous pigeon population there. I pass by a couple aged gents who are out there every morning fattening the flock.
I love the look of horror on the kid's face. Priceless.
a bid crapped on me yesterday. it was the second time this year.
It was a pigeon this time. I could tell because of the relatively large stool.
the previous time it was one of those little brown birds that bother people at restaurants.
Tyranno: These birds live here because of how much waste humans produce. If they weren't there, we'd be wading in filth. It is an ecosystem.
The place I used to live was losy with pigeons. Every few days a mysterious van would pull up, three guys would get out and throw a big, weighted net down. They's gather up the birds, stuff 'em in a bag and drive away. No shit.
Nobody complained either. Toronto's too nice for that, but how about we bring in a few hawks or falcons?
Don't exagerate - you do not have that many pigeons in Toronto!!!
By the way what about those big geese...? Are you planing to exterminate them?
I really do not understand all this strange discussion about birds...
Yeah, I don't understand any of this animosity towards urban fowl. What do they actually do that's harmful?
Feeding birds is not good for them, what part of that don't people get? Very good article and very accurate, I agree the city should follow London's example.
The food for the birds also attracts rats, I understand.
Actually, I was wondering where the city suddenly finds enough extra cash to trash perfectly good signage lest they offend the pigeon-feeding demographic.
Actually, I was wondering where the city suddenly finds enough extra cash to trash perfectly good signage lest they offend the pigeon-feeding demographic.
They are going to mothball the Queen Streetcar.
Pigeons and seagulls are not afraid of humans and are drawn to sites of human activity. That makes them primary disease vectors. Not just for H5N1 (bird flu) but potentially any tick-borne disease.
What they eat is largely litter that would be collected anyway, or directly from bins. They do not help Waste Management Services, in fact they encourage people to drop all kinds of organic waste in public places to be eaten. And they obviously could have no impact on inorganic litter at all, because they aren't goats.
Pigeons are not a species native to North America, so why don't we see them as invasive? With the numbers in their flocks, they must be displacing native bird populations. Don't we care about the environment anymore?
i got a van and some nets, all i need is 2 more guys and it's kentucky fried pigeon, baby
Urban geese, pigeons, and seagulls should be shot on sight. They foul (ironic) nearly all open spaces and pose many health hazards. Geese are notoriously territorial, never mind the horrible diseases they carry.
There should be free alka-seltzer stations in city parks. Would clean up the bird population right quick!
Why not do what my local council has done in England and class dropping food for pigeons as littering.
A 50 quid fine for anyone caught doing it soon stops them.
I think it would be great if they made it illegal to feed them. I purposely avoid Nathan Philips Square now because of all the seagulls/pigeons.
It's pretty disgusting, really, and people seem to have no clue how irritating it is to have the birds swarming around the area while they feed them.
Can you actually collect fines from the crazy folk who feed them?
Torontoist, do a vote on pigeoncide.
I can't believe that CG is the only one who pointed out the waste of money in putting up signs only to have them taken down while there's talk of massive budget shortfalls. Jeez I wonder why, it wouldn't surprise me if shit like this was happening all the time.
The completely inept city council should be hunted down just like the birds.
Goats eat garbage, eh?
*idea*
Mothballing subways for goats!
It's not always a matter of people feeding the birds. Sometimes the birds just help themselves. I was at Nathan Philips Square last week during the street food festival and I saw a seagull divebomb straight into a dish of fries in a woman's hand and help himself to a bunch of fries. How disgusting!