LONDON – You could say it’s a bird of a different feather.
Liverpool, plagued by pigeons that pollute the city center with their droppings, is introducing a mechanical falcon that squawks and flaps its wings in hopes of scaring the pesky birds away. The fat pigeons, who feast on junk food, are an embarrassment to a city chosen to be next year’s European Capital of Culture.
The city council is buying 10 Robops, short for robotic bird of prey, at a cost of about $4,000 each. But cleaning teams spend many hours each day scraping droppings from streets and buildings at a cost of about $320,000 a year, the council said.
Only two of the Robops have been installed so far.
“The key is that we move (the Robops) around, so the pigeons don’t get used to them,” council spokeswoman Sarah Langworthy said. “It keeps (the pigeons) on their toes.”
The city had weighed several options, including introducing live falcons, but ultimately settled on the Robops.
While the council has not yet evaluated the Robops’ performance, Langworthy was confident they would be effective in fighting the city’s pigeon menace.
“It’s early days, still,” she said. “When we get the full force up, they won’t know what hit them.”
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