Feeding bread crumbs to the pigeons may seem a good pastime, but cleaning their droppings becomes annoying with time. The pigeon's droppings, roosting, nesting, and landing cause damage to your property. The pigeon's droppings have a large amount of uric acid, and uric acid has corrosive properties and damages the roofs, window sills, railing, etc. The pigeons also transmit the disease to humans. It is said that pigeons carry more than fifty diseases such as psittacosis, histoplasmosis, E-coli and salmonellosis, etc.  Other problems caused by pigeons are that their droppings attract mites, rats, cockroaches, bugs, etc. 

Due to all the issues mentioned above, there is a need to control the pigeon problem effectively. The pigeon problem needs to be solved in the residential areas and the larger vicinity and commercial places like airports, power plants, agriculture lands, manufacturing plants, hospitals, educational institutions and hotels, restaurants, etc. 

Pigeon control solutions that are long term:

There are many pigeon control solutions used worldwide, and not all of them give long-term solutions. Some of the pigeon control solutions that are humane, effective, and provide long term solution are:

  • Sonic and Ultra Sonic Sounds:

In this method, the sonic or ultrasonic sound emitters are installed on the roof of the property. The sound emitter emits the pigeon's natural predators' sound such as falcon, owl, and hawk. The pigeons take the sound as real raptors and stay away from the property. 

The best thing about this method is that it is effective for the pigeons and keeps other pests like rabbits and mites away from the public and private property. 

  • Pigeon Birth control:

Another long-term solution to the pigeon is pigeon's birth control. Many residential and commercial facilities have switched to the pigeon birth control program to provide long-term solutions to their pigeon problem. Some people believe that increasing the pigeons' mortality rate will bring long-lasting solutions, but they are wrong because a pair of pigeons has at least 400 offspring within just two years. So the durable solution is only controlling the reproduction rate of the pigeons. One of the most successful programs focused on resolving the pigeon issue as humanely as possible is OvoControl's Pigeon birth control program. 

The pigeon birth control method does not pose any harm to the pigeons. It is simply a contraceptive mixed in the pigeon's bait that does not cause any physical injury. The pigeons can still lay down the eggs after using the contraceptive, but they are not fertilized and do not hatch.

  • Reflected Light Sources:

The reflected light sources are another long-term solution to deter the pigeons. The reflected light is used to distract the pigeons. Different materials are used for this purpose, such as Chephone CDs or aluminum pie plates.

Effigies and Spikes are short term solutions:

There are many tried and tested methods to solve the pigeon problem and keep them away from your property, but some of them are short-term, and some strategies are not humane. For instance, the effigies of hawk, owl, and snake are common pigeon repellent techniques worldwide. But it does not provide a long-term solution because, after some time, the pigeons get used to the effigies and understand that these effigies do not harm them. 

The spikes and the gels are all examples of short-term pigeon problem solutions. The spikes do not permanently solve the pigeon problem because they need to be correctly installed, and if not, they are not effective. Another problem with spikes is that pigeon sometimes manages to pass through the spikes and then roost undeterred. 

Sometimes the pigeons and other birds droppings, feathers, and other nestling material stuck in the spikes, and then cleaning them consumes a lot of your time. The pigeons quite quickly build an association with the area and do not leave it. So if they cannot roost because of the spikes, they will move to the adjacent area and perch there, which means the spikes do not fully serve the purpose and only provide a short-term solution. 

Some methods are not humane:

There are some methods to control the pigeon problem that might be effective, but they are not humane. All the pigeon culling methods come under inhumane methods of pigeon control.  Poisoning the pigeons may solve the problem for some time, but it is not a long-term solution, and this is not socially acceptable because it is causing harm to the pigeons. The poisoning methods not only kill the pigeons but can also kill other birds if in case they eat the poisoned bait. So this method is wrong on so many grounds. 

Raptors and bird of prey is another inhumane method to control pigeon problem. The birds that are used for this purpose are hawk, owl, and falcon. This method also causes pain and injuries to the pigeons. The raptors try to take the pigeons with claws. The bird of prey method is not a long-term solution because the raptors migrate and leave the area.