The city pigeon
The “rat of the sky,” one of the first long-distance communication tools, the symbol of peace. The pigeon has many faces — it’s everywhere, yet little is known about its background. In the city, pigeons live short and painful lives, and they deserve human help and empathy.
Read more here about Bite Back’s views, how the pigeon took over our cities, and how we can help them.
Pigeons are fine animals that, like any living creature, are entitled to a good life, free from stress and pain. To ensure that, city governments can make several interventions, which we explain below.
1. Contraception for pigeons
There are many pigeons — too many. There simply isn’t enough food in our cities to keep these animals healthy and well-fed. They almost always suffer from hunger and often from disease. Gently limiting the pigeon population helps improve the quality of life for the remaining birds.
Cities can use corn kernels containing R-12, which make the dominant pigeons sterile.
In a nutshell:
A large corn kernel with the contraceptive nicarbazin, which is too big for small birds to eat, so they are not affected.
The pill is safe and reversible, and even improves pigeons’ health because it also helps prevent coccidiosis, a common bird disease.
The pill prevents embryo development inside eggs.
If birds of prey or other animals catch and eat a pigeon that has consumed R-12, it is not harmful to the predator.
Already used successfully in Leuven, Brussels, and Zele, among other cities.
More information can be found here about contraception for pigeons.
2. Food (and pigeon lofts)
Corn kernels are a good start, but they can never feed an entire pigeon population. Their function is to sterilize, not to nourish.
Since pigeons would otherwise be doomed to a life of constant starvation, supplemental feeding is truly necessary. They need seeds to feed themselves, and they cannot live a healthy life by eating only street waste.
To prevent this food from attracting too many other animals — which some people consider undesirable — it’s important to feed in controlled locations, such as in pigeon lofts. These are small pigeon houses where pigeons can also lay their eggs and sleep.
In pigeon lofts, eggs can be removed to limit reproduction in a humane way.
The birds have warm, safe nesting places, and the lofts can be installed in areas chosen by the city. This also helps reduce nuisance (noise, droppings) in neighborhoods where it is not wanted.
This method is already used in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and now also in Belgium.
Pigeon lofts do come with a cost, as they require maintenance — but volunteers can help with upkeep.
3. Awareness and education
The pigeon deserves better than the way it is usually perceived. It’s important that people understand how pigeons end up in cities, why we are morally obliged not to abandon them, and how they can be helped.
Français de Belgique 
Nederlands (België)