I got this rather long email from a Park Slope woman who lives on 6th Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West. She obviously has a passionate interest in the well-being of Park Slope’s  pigeons and other local birds.

Recently she was told by a neighbor to stop throwing bird seed into the street. At first I thought her email was just a rant against a neighbor and a local hospital (which it is, I guess).

But it’s also a passionate defense of the benefits of feeding bird seeds to birds. Her neighbor has been calling the police on her and quite a conflict is emerging. There’s a lot of interesting information in this e-mail.

    We have sparrows, finches, pigeons, blue jays and an assortment of other wonderful birds in our area and as a member of both the New York City Audubon Society as well as a licensed NY State wildlife rehabilitator, I’m always cognizant that healthy bird seed keeps local birds healthy.  It prevents them from resorting to scavenging garbage and picking up the many illnesses that come from rancid or germ infested food. As I’ve rescued and rehabilitated dozens of birds (since 2005) in our area (including having at least 10 or more euthanized), I am constantly being told by the veterinarian that the cause of the illness is either starvation-related and/or bacterial.  By leaving clean bird seed, I am helping to keep the birds healthy and this means the local community does not have to stumble across sick, dead or diseased birds on their way to the subway. It also helps to keep pigeon droppings solid (the watery waste comes from bad diet) – in fact, when pigeons have healthy seed to eat, their droppings are exactly the same as gerbils – solid and much less acidic (they don’t do property damage).

    The “new neighbor” explained that his son has an allergy to pigeons and that since he owns the brownstone he can tell me not to put bird seed anywhere on the block, on either side of the street.  As a wildlife rehabilitator, I know the law.  There are no laws against feeding birds.  There is a law against littering.  People who leave stale donuts, spaghetti and/or other problematic food for birds should be reprimanded and/or fined.  But leaving clean and healthy (and $$ expensive) birdseed on the sidewalks near bushes/shrubs – is not littering.  In fact, a recent court case (August 2007) was dismissed and the judge wrote, “bird seed cannot be construed as rubbish and so the defendant was not littering.”

    However, as I am on the way to work (this is at 7:30AM), I cannot wait for him to call the police (which he does, on his cell phone) and have them come, then explain to them that I am not littering and/or have them issue a ticket for littering which would later (after much time consumption) be dismissed by a judge.  And so I hurry off to work.  As mentioned, he recently grabbed and held my wrist so hard it is black and blue.  Again, I’m not interested in involving the police as then the entire issue of feeding or not feeding birds becomes the focus – not the assault.  Considering bird seed could at worse be construed as litter, this would be a fine of ! $75.00.  Assault, however, is a felony which could carry with it jail time.  I do not have the time or energy to explain this to the screaming, bullying man on the street at 7:30AM…

    When I sometimes have walked on the Methodist Hospital side of the street (on 7th street, between 7th and 8th Avenues)  the hospital has sent maintenance staff driving mini motorized sidewalk cleaning jeeps to follow directly behind me, prohibiting me from leaving any bird seed anywhere near there.  This is a hospital that has special permission to dump biological waste into our Park Slope air and has paved over the green park area directly across from John Jay High School in order to make parking lots.  There was much press and publicity around Methodist’s hospital take over of Park Slope several years ago when they began their expansion.  Many reports showed the increase in carbon emissions and other air quality problems that resulted from this, but obviously Methodist has strong connections and/or agreements with local leaders.

    With all of the truly hazardous side effects of Methodist Hospital ’s emissions, and their encouragement of volumes increase in traffic (by provided expanded parking); the idea that they would resent anyone feeding a bird on the public sidewalk is almost hilarious.  As a pigeon expert, I can tell you that the dangers from emissions and/or biological waste far exceed any possible problems that come from pigeon droppings.

    As a graduate student at Hunter, I’m focusing on the incredible shrinking public sphere.  As you may know, because the city and state have left public parks neglected, private companies have jumped in to fill the gap and then proceed to use the space for commercial purposes. For example, Bryant Park — which was originally intended as a respite from the “hustle and bustle” of the inner city and had at one point boasted (via the New York City Audubon Society, http://www.nycaudubon.org/home/) a rich diversity of birds & squirrels; it is now privatized in partnership with the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, BPRC, which not only has added HBO to it’s list of funders, but is converting the one expanse of meadow into a tourist-attracting ice skating rink.  The park was already downgraded to HBO sponsored lunch time rock-fests with ear splitting music that no animal could possibly stand (or humans such as myself) but now the destruction of the only lawn by a sheet of ice will obliterate whatever was left of the the more beautiful and delicate birds.

    A year ago, BPRC proposed putting barbed wire on their trees and hired predatory hawks to circle the park intent on killing and/or scaring away the birds.  The hawk experiment ended unceremoniously when one efficaciously swooped down and “captured” someone’s unsuspecting Chihuahua .

    You may be thinking – Why don’t you just feed the birds in the park (Prospect)?  Because pigeons are not migratory birds – they do not fly more than a few blocks from where they are born. The pigeons that I come across on my way to the subway will live, breed and die in that area – they will never migrate over to Prospect Park . Would I prefer that all the birds were located in the park?  Of course I would!  But pigeons (brought here from Europe in the 1600s) are “rock doves” (“ Columbus livia”) and they do not make their homes in trees – they don’t have the DNA or instinct to do it.  That is why they roost in buildings.

    As a Buddhist, I believe in “accepting things as they are and attending to the alleviation of suffering”  In other words, I try to help the birds that I see where I see them – not hope or wish that they all lived somewhere else.  This is a “NIMBY” (Not In MY Backyard) syndrome where every single step that I take – everywhere I go – people will come out and say “Can you please just go feed these birds somewhere else?????”  Where else?  This is where they live and as a caring and humane bird lover, I try to do what I can for them when I see them.

    I would love for the city to adopt a plan where man-made fountains and/or water stations could be strategically placed in out-of-the way areas to attract pigeons which could also be bird feeding stations – this would be a step toward sharing and enjoying our urban environment together.  In addition there are pigeon cotes that could be provided – which, once pigeons have made them their “homes” – could be culled (volunteers could remove the fertile eggs and replace them with dummies).  The organization PICAS has been successful with this type of pigeon control in the UK for decades.  It has been reported that culling eggs is the only effective way to reduce and control pigeon populations in city areas.  Extermination doesn’t work as the birds then reproduce more rapidly to compensate.

    As of right now, I am at my wits end.  I have women screaming at me from windows, men lunging at me on the sidewalk and as I go about my day; my only interest is just to provide ONE small but healthy meal to the bird to keep them from getting ill.  Once they are sick, it has been my job to pick them up, shuttle them to veterinarians, nurse them back to health and/or have them euthanized.

The author of this email wrote to say that if anyone finds an injured or sick bird, please contact the Wild Bird Fund hot line which is staffed by volunteers who work with Animal General in the City. Their number is (646) 306-2862,  They can also ask for help on-line by going to any site linked to nycprc.org.  And/or they can email the author at fieldjo(at)aol(dot)com.