Park Pigeon Feed Spiked With Birth-Control Agent

Corn laced with a birth-control agent is being fed to pigeons in Balboa Park in an effort to reduce their population and the problems that accompany it.

An estimated 5,000 pigeons live in the park, nesting among the many buildings. City officials say acidity from the pigeons’ droppings has damaged sculpture and ornamentation on the buildings.

Herb Field, an entomologist with Lloyd Pest Control, the company handling the birth-control project, said it’s nearly impossible to breathe under some buildings “because of the fecal stench, the fungal material in the air and the smell of rotting carcasses of pigeons.”

The birth-control agent added to the corn is Ornitrol, which Field said is effective but not widely used, possibly because results take two to three years.

Under the birth-control plan, which began in September, pigeons are fed plain corn for a couple of weeks to get them accustomed to the taste. Then, for 10 days, the Ornitrol-laced corn is fed to the pigeons. The process is implemented just twice a year because it is sufficient to disrupt the female pigeon’s reproductive cycle for six months.

According to Mike Grauer, who oversees building maintenance programs for the city and is in charge of the program, implementation will cost the city $8,000 every six months.

Grauer said city officials plan to monitor nesting sites for the next three years and maintain a pigeon census. They hope to reduce the population in the park by 50% to 60%.