By James Rothwell
German pigeons will be tricked into eating contraceptive pills as part of a train station’s unusual plan to tackle huge amounts of bird mess.
Deutsche Bahn, the German rail provider, has launched a trial period of lacing bird feed at Berlin’s Südkreuz rail station with a “pigeon pill” that renders the animals infertile.
For a three-year period, starting this month, workers will spread corn kernels coated with the drug around the station, a move which could significantly reduce the pigeon population in the area.
Bird mess is a blight on many European cities, covering bicycles, pavements and virtually any other surface where the “rats of the sky” like to gather.Credit: Getty Images
“Deutsche Bahn plans to use the drug at Südkreuz station in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district for a period of three years, starting in March 2025,” the rail provider confirmed in response to a parliamentary question by an MP from the centre-left Social Democrats party.
According to the Berliner Kurier newspaper, which first reported the proposal, the pill being used is called Ovistop and has already been approved in Italy, opening the door to trials in other European Union member states.
The pill has a non-permanent contraceptive effect, meaning that workers must keep feeding it to pigeons every five to seven days to ensure they remain infertile.
If the trial succeeds, it could be expanded to train stations across the German capital, Berliner Kurier reported.
As the pellets are too large for smaller birds, they are only likely to be eaten by pigeons. Research in Italy has also shown that larger animals would need to consume the pill in enormous quantities for it to have any effect.
Bird mess is a blight on Berlin, like many European cities, covering bicycles, pavements and virtually any other surface where the “rats of the sky” like to gather.
Contraceptive pills are not the only solution to excessive bird mess being trialled in Europe.
In Yorkshire, the Northern rail service has employed two birds of prey to deter pigeons from besmirching the region’s train stations. The trial relies on two birds named Maverick and Zulu, who are both species of the Harris hawk, which is effective at scaring off pigeons and also deterring them from nesting.
Other methods to deter pigeons include placing plastic models of owls around a station, or recording hawk noises – but staff at Northern have said they tried both options and neither was effective.
The Telegraph, London
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