Birdwatching has flown to incredibly new heights due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With people spending more time than ever at home, we have taken to our outdoor living spaces for new hobbies. In 2020, the Global Big Day spotting event participants reported over two million sightings and 6,479 different species. We sure love our birds, but unfortunately, not all of them play nicely with us and are classified as nuisances by the State of Illinois. While it is a shortlist, being on it means no governmental protection, and holding that status are pigeons, European starlings, and house sparrows.
The house sparrow was inflicted on our landscape in Brooklyn, New York, in 1851, and their reach extended to the Rocky Mountains by 1900. They choose manmade nesting sites over natural ones, and are found in streetlights and building walls and eaves. Their nests are usually piles of grass and things they find, and when they are in gutters or dryer vents can cause blockages and fires.
The European Starling immigrated to New York a little later, 1890, and their adaption to this side of the pond is both amazing and terrible. They are now in all 50 states with an estimated population of over 220 million, and they cause about a billion dollars in damages to the agriculture industry yearly. The large flocks produce an inordinate amount of poop. During 2016 in Rome, the amount of droppings fell so rapidly that people had to walk with umbrellas, and cars skidded off the road.
Starlings can transmit parasites and diseases and pose a threat to native species. Rather than building their own nests, they kick other birds out of their nests and knock the eggs to the ground. They are also responsible for many plane strikes and caused a deadly crash in 1960.
You are just as likely to see feral pigeons around garbage cans and dumpsters as you are in the park. Their reputation for being a dirty bird has been well deserved. They can pass over 40 diseases to humans, with the most common being Psittacosis. They favor building ledges, and their white droppings can be seen coating nesting areas. The acidic droppings can burn through many building materials, eat away at roofing substrates, corrode steel, and cause electrical shorts.
Other pest birds in Illinois are sometimes considered a nuisance but are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The Act makes it illegal to pursue, kill, or hunt these birds. Some of them are Canada Geese, Eurasian Collared-Doves, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, woodpeckers, robins, cardinals, finches and more. If you try to remove them yourself, you put yourself at risk of violating the Act, and it requires a federal permit to disturb them.
If nuisance birds are driving you batty, contact Wildlife Services. We have been providing McHenry, Lake, Cook, and the surrounding counties the top-rated bird and wildlife removal service for a long time. Reach out to us today for some more information or an estimate and let us handle those birds (and
bats as well).
