“Sustainable Pigeon Birth Control Method Used by Heerlen Municipality to Combat Nuisance”

The Limburg municipality has been experiencing nuisance from city pigeons for years. The animals are omnipresent, especially on the Bongerd and Promenade. According to the regional newspaper That is why the municipality of Heerlen decided two years ago to ‘sustainably push back’ the courting birds.

Special corn kernels

The birds are fed special maize pellets during the mating season, which runs from March to the end of October. The granules have a layer of contraceptive on them. The method was developed by Vets for City Pigeons from Hasselt, Belgium. The bird pill has previously been used successfully in Leuven, Brussels and Kortrijk, among others. There was also interest in Barcelona, ​​thanks to the bird pill, the famous Sagrada Família is being pooped a lot less.

“You can also cage or shoot pigeons. This method is much more sustainable, it is long-term birth control,” says Pieter Cola of Vets for City Pigeons against De Limburger. “Just like the contraceptive pill in humans, it is also more sustainable than abortion, if I may say so very bluntly.”

Keep feeding

The number of pigeons in the center of Heerlen is expected to decrease even further. “After four or five years there are usually 60 to 80 percent fewer pigeons,” says Cola. “I think we’ll see a nice figure this fall.” The condition is that the municipality continues to feed the pill, but given the success, Heerlen does not intend to stop.

Heerlen was the first Dutch city where the control method was used. Recently, the pigeons in Groningen can also mate to their heart’s content without consequences.