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Feral pigeon (Columba livia) population management in Ljubljana.

Results and critical standpoints regarding the actions of the feral pigeon (Columba livia) population management in Ljubljana were studied. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effi ciency of the methods used to manage and control the feral pigeon population in Ljubljana. The effectiveness of progesterone, ultrasound deterrent and artifi cial dovecots for egg collection was tested in order to evaluate different approaches to feral pigeon population management in Ljubljana. The most effective method of pigeon control was the use of contraceptives, since the number of pigeons in selected locations of the wider centre of Ljubljana decreased by 49.1% (P>0.05) in the period from 1999 to 2004. The method of ultrasound as a pigeon deterrent remains questionable, since no distinctive deterrent effects were established, even though pigeons in our experiment showed signifi cant (P<0.001) signs of agitation when ultrasound was present in the tested area of the covered passage entrance to the urban landfi ll in Ljubljana. The method of pigeon nesting in 8 green plot and 2 house attic artifi cial dovecots, which we are investigating at present, seems to have great potential regarding the egg collecting and consequently the reduction of the number of feral pigeons, improving nesting hygiene and hobby feeding control. After a 10-month period, since the green plot dovecots were built, pigeons have already started to nest in 62% of the available nesting space, however eggs will not be collected until the dovecots are populated completely. The house attic dovecotes were only built recently, so they were still un-populated at the end of this study. We concluded that all the methods used may be only successful in the long term by implementing an integrated approach to pigeon control, specially supported by public information and education.