Bye bye birdies

Jennifer Kho

WESTSIDE -- The problem pigeons have left Lions Park.

The birds were targeted last year by the city, when large numbers of

them roosted in the gazebo rafters at the park.

Public Services Director Bill Morris said that netting the city put up

to keep pigeons from nesting in the gazebo has reduced the problem

drastically.

The birds droppings made such a mess, particularly on the cooking

equipment underneath the gazebo, that the pigeons became a health hazard

and a nuisance, said Joe Bogart, senior maintenance supervisor for the

city.

“Animals, once fed on a regular basis, expect a handout from the

people there, and that’s distracting,” Bogart said. “And then there’s the

obvious health issue. It’s a natural process: Once they eat, they have to

do something with the food.”

Lions Park Assn. member Bill Turpit said he clearly remembers the

pigeon situation of a year ago.

“There were areas on the pavement, on the counter tops, around the

cooking area and on the picnic benches that were completely unusable

because of the pigeon droppings,” he said. “You didn’t want to walk on

it, you didn’t want to sit on it, you didn’t want to touch it and it also

smelled.”

The problem was made worse by the proximity of a playground for young

children, Turpit added.

“It was in an area so close to a tot lot, with a lot of little hands

and little feet running around, and it was really to the point where you

had to watch where you stepped,” he said. “In front of the police

substation across the street, pigeons would sit on the wire so the

sidewalk was a mess and the mail box on the curb was all white with bird

droppings.”

City employees still tidy up the park daily and make a special effort

to clean the gazebo area every Friday, Bogart said.

Still, the area isn’t entirely clean and free, Morris said.

“Every once in a while, we get one that gets in the nooks and

crannies, but since [the netting went up] the roosting has reduced

probably 95%,” he said.

Johnny Gonzales, who was eating lunch under the gazebo Friday, said he

didn’t see a single pigeon.

“There are no problems,” he said. “The pigeons are gone.”

Pigeons do still visit the park in the mornings, however, and Morris

said he isn’t sure why they favor Lions Park over others in the city.

“Certainly we have shelters and structures in other parks, but we

really haven’t seen this problem at other parks,” Morris said. “I don’t

know why. Lions Park has one of the higher-use shelters, and we try to

keep it free from the food that people drop when they use it, but it

could have something to do with food.”

Another problem might rest with the people at the park, Morris said.

“We do know that people feed the pigeons from time to time, which

attracts them and isn’t healthy for them, and maybe that’s a contributing

factor,” he said. “If they can find a place where they are being fed and

where they have a nice, warm, cozy spot under a roof, well, that’s

probably where I would pick to live.”

In Newport Beach, David Niederhaus, the city’s general services

manager, said he hasn’t seen much pigeon trouble.

The only pigeon hangout in Newport Beach was Inspiration Point, where

the city has put up “Do Not Feed the Bird” signs, he said.

“Visitors and residents feeding them caused them to accumulate there

and create droppings, foot-traffic obstructions and that type of thing,”

Niederhaus said. “It’s the same with ducks. Basically, it’s people

feeding the birds that are causing the problem. But signage and

enforcement did stop the problem at Inspiration Point and, other than

that, pigeons haven’t been a problem in the city.”

Sea gulls are another breed, entirely, however.

“We’ve always had problems with sea gulls getting into beach beds and

getting into the trash to eat,” he said. “They are particularly a problem

in Corona Del Mar beach beds. And they leave droppings on Balboa

Pavilion.”