Pigeons
Pigeons were once kept for food and for racing, but have since gone feral and adapted to life in urban environments. Their rapidly growing population – and the problems that come with it – can be seen as both a nuisance and a risk to human health.
- Pigeon droppings soil pavements, roads, and vehicles, cause damage to stonework of monuments and buildings, and promote the growth of moulds.
- Pigeons can transmit viral diseases to humans (psittacosis) and parasites (ticks, fleas, etc.).
Measures taken by the City of Luxembourg
- The spreading of contraceptive-laced seed has been discontinued to avoid these chemicals being absorbed by predators further up the food chain.
- Dovecotes have been installed at Square Brasseur, Rue d'Anvers and Rue Antoine Godart. The aim is to encourage local pigeons to make their home in the dovecotes in order to monitor their health and control bird populations.
- The City of Luxembourg also works to protect the habitats of their natural predators, such as the Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) and the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus).
- Public spaces are cleaned regularly.
What you can do
- We recommend that, where possible, you prevent pigeons from making their nests on your home by blocking openings and closing off holes using netting or wire mesh, for example.
- Never touch pigeons, especially if they seem to be sick. Contact a specialist to deal with any pigeon-related issues.
- Feeding pigeons is prohibited under the Municipal Regulation of 23 October 1967 (Règlement communal du 23 octobre 1967).
The key advantage of using dovecotes is that they bring the birds together in a place that is beneficial for the animals and where their population can easily be controlled by City staff.
All the dovecotes are open, allowing the birds to come and go as they please. Pigeons are drawn to dovecotes because they offer them a protected habitat, with suitable and abundant food.
An applicator installed in the dovecote shakes the eggs to stop the embryo from developing and puts them back in place so that the female can continue to brood. Imitation eggs can also be used.
Rooks
The rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a social bird that lives in groups whose size changes with the seasons. This behavior can become problematic when they gather near residential areas. Within Luxembourg City, some 1,100 nests have been counted. Regular surveys show that the population has stabilised in recent years.
Drawbacks:
- Rooks’ cawing can be a nuisance, but it is largely confined to the three-month nest-building period.
- Their droppings soil vehicles, pavements, public benches, etc.
Benefits:
- Rooks are a useful and protected species.
- They feed on carrion, which means they clear animal cadavers from the environment. But they also feed on a wide variety of foods, including rodents, insects, fruits, eggs, etc.
Measures taken by the City of Luxembourg
We have created a management plan for rooks living and nesting in Luxembourg City. The goal of this plan is to ensure the long-term management of this protected species living in Luxembourg City, and to avoid any undesirable division and displacement of the colonies to a multitude of other locations where there is potential for conflict.
Processing of personal data
Your personal data will be recorded and processed in order to draw up a management plan and to monitor and manage the rook colonies living in Luxembourg City.
The personal data that is collected will be processed by the staff of the City of Luxembourg's municipal administration strictly within the scope of their duties. Your data and information are stored for as long as is necessary to achieve these aims. These may be transferred to the City of Luxembourg's <em>Service Archives</em> (Municipal Archives) for subsequent processing that is not incompatible with the original purpose, for archiving purposes in the public interest, historical research purposes, or statistical purposes (in accordance with Article 5.1. b of the GDPR), or to the Luxembourg National Archives, in accordance with the Law of 17 August 2018 on archiving (<em>loi du 17 août 2018 relative à l'archivage</em>).
Your personal data is processed using organisational and technical measures established to guarantee its confidentiality and security. To facilitate the sharing of said data, they are stored and processed in a cloud environment. The data is pseudonymised and, as far as possible, anonymised before being communicated to recipients subject to an obligation of confidentiality, such as the firm responsible for drawing up the management plan on behalf of the City of Luxembourg. The City of Luxembourg does not make use of automated techniques to process your personal data.
Ducks
Feeding wildlife can have terrible consequences for these animals. Ducks, for example, can fall prey to bacteria that develop when leftover bread ferments in sun-warmed, stagnant water. This disease is called botulism and can be transmitted to humans by drinking contaminated water or touching sick ducks.
