By C.J. Chivers, Staff Reporter
For two weeks, New Yorkers have bemoaned the loss of the exotic birds that escaped from the Bronx Zoo. But as for resident birds: Well, most people rank them among rats -- and go to great lengths to keep them at bay.
"We're talking about dirty, nasty, bug-riddled birds," said Sanford Feld, a self-described bird relocation specialist. "Pigeons, starlings, sparrows and geese."
Earlier this month the aviary at the Bronx Zoo crumpled under 11 inches of wet snow, letting 33 exotic birds fly the coop. The city has been supportive of a continuing recovery effort that has recaptured two birds, said Diana O'Halloran, a zoo spokeswoman.
But few New Yorkers celebrate the millions of pigeons and starlings that crowd the streets.
"Everybody loves birds," said Feld, whose Avian FlyAway Co. strings electric wires to keep birds out. "But what they don't love is a big concentration in one area."
Pigeons and starlings do have something in common with the zoo's escapees: They orginated overseas. Both species came from Europe, said Tim Dillon, of Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology.
In the 1880s, a theater fan released 12 pairs of starlings from England into Central Park. He wanted all species mentioned by Shakespeare to find a home in the states, Dillon said. But of the many birds he introduced only starlings survived.
Pigeons too have thrived. New York buildings offer a habitat similar to their former haunts: European cliffs.
But with dense flocks come health problems. Birds and their droppings can spread fungal, bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases -- some of which threaten humans, Dillon said.
They can also cost businesses. In a 1993 negligence suit, a Wisconsin jury awarded $1.45 million to a worker who said he contracted blastomycosis, a skin and lung disease that causes purple lesions, in a pigeon-infested warehouse.
Birds also complicate working conditions here. Swarms of pigeons roost in New York City bridge trusses and engine rooms, and the mounds of their accumulated droppings endanger maintenance workers, said Michael Iliakis, a city Transportation Department engineer responsible for bridges spanning the Harlem River.
"It's like a cake," Iliakis said. "A hard cake. You cannot go up there. It is just unhealthy."
Before maintenance crews climb the bridges, the city has contractors steam-clean the spans. The workers wear protective masks.
The birds also create problems on the ground, and people who spread food for the flocks make things even worse.
"After the birds have eaten, the food is left behind," said Michael J. Browne, Jr., a Parks Department supervisor. "And rats come out and eat it."
Flocks also mean trouble for buildings.
Pigeons and starlings can ruin scenic facades and architecture. They damage heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment. Bird droppings, high in acid content, can even corrode roofs, said Jeff Eisenberg, of Pest Away Exterminating, a Manhattan firm that has handled bird control for businesses in Hunts Point.
Some contractors apply avitrol -- a bird hallucinogen -- to discourage troublesome flocks, or trap birds and relocate them. Others alter rooftops to discourage birds from landing, or erect barriers. The city has installed plastic owls in some parks, hoping to scare birds away.
Some residents even take matters into their own hands. Near a loading dock on Port Morris's Walnut Avenue, three bloody pigeon carcasses lay in the snow, victims of gunfire.
But killing birds is illegal, Eisenberg said. And ornithologists, exterminators and city officials agreed that these methods are unlikely to solve the problem.
"Pigeons are smart birds," said Feld, "That's why there are so many of them."