THEY’VE tried trapping them, shooting them, baiting them and scaring them – and failed miserably to win the war against Sydney’s pigeons. So how about blinding them with disco lights?
Sounds far-fetched, but RailCorp has unveiled its latest weapon to defeat the pigeon plague at city stations and it’s a rotating, mirrored pyramid resembling a dance club disco ball. The devices, called Eagle Eyes, work by reflecting light at various angles to confuse and disorient incoming pigeons. The company behind them claims the birds grow so irritated by the flashing lights they quickly find somewhere else to roost.
Fed up with flocks of pigeons pooping on commuters and staff and creating safety and hygiene issues, RailCorp has installed four of the devices at Central Station, with more to go up in the coming days. The pyramids have been placed in the ceiling of the main CountryLink concourse. Another two will be located outside the tram stop. Special lights will be shone on the internal pyramids, while the two outdoors will rely on sunlight.
RailCorp customer service general manager Rino Matarazzo said the bird-deterrents had been well received by commuters, many of whom had thought the pyramids were part of RailCorp’s official Christmas decorations. RailCorp will install other pyramids at Hurstville and Waterfall stations by January. The rail authority has for years tried to rid its stations of the birds, adopting measures ranging from trapping them in cages and moving them off to stringing up fake eagles to scare them. But nothing has worked.
“The eagles seemed to keep the pigeons away at first, but then the pigeons got friendly with them, pecking at them, nesting on them and even trying to mate,” Mr Matarazzo said. “We also tried putting up spikes everywhere, but the pigeons decided they were good places to nest.”
Apart from being a pest, the mess left behind by pigeons created a slip hazard on platforms. Hurstville station staff were so fed up with pigeons roosting there, they planned to hire a contractor to shoot them. That plan was dropped late last year after details of the planned shooting were made public.
