The best way to manage pigeon problems in Canada is to put the birds on “pigeon birth control,” says the director of an Alberta wildlife centre.
Carol Kelly, the executive director of Medicine River Wildlife Centre in Red Deer, says OvoControl, a new form of pigeon feed that controls reproduction in pigeons, is both more humane and more effective than current forms of pest control.
“OvoControl is proactive in that it reduces the number of pigeons,” she says. “The pigeons eat it, they eat it for a certain period of time and it makes their eggs not viable. There’s no hormones involved.”
Pigeons are known to breed rapidly—usually six times a year, at two eggs per clutch. Since OvoControl interferes with egg hatchability, it stops new birds from hatching and the population naturally declines.
Field studies of the contraceptive have shown a reduction in pigeon populations of approximately 50 percent annually and up to 88 percent over 28 months. Once the pigeons are taken off the feed, normal reproductive cycles return after a few months.
Currently, pigeon problems in Canada are largely handled by pest-control companies, which frequently use poisons, sticky glue, steel barbs, nets, and other repellants that can solve the problem in the short term.
