Pigeon Feeders May Get Areas To Pursue Enthusiasm

Council Member Simcha Felder is considering modifying his proposed pigeon feeding ban to allow for some areas where tossing the food would be legal, a Web log of the New York Times, City Room, reports.

The original proposal would fine New Yorkers caught feeding the birds, citing the pigeon population as a threat to quality of life. Mr. Felder has also called for appointing a "pigeon tsar" and looking into means of controlling the population, such as bird birth control. After meeting with pro-pigeon groups, the council member is considering softening his stance to include some refuge for bird enthusiasts.

"We're talking to groups, soliciting ideas and feedback, and one idea is feeding areas where pigeon feeding would be allowed, and that's something that we are willing to look into," a spokesman for Mr. Felder, Eric Kuo, said yesterday.

This fits in line with experts who recommend creating a system where pigeon feeding is encouraged in designated places, allowing the city to monitor and control the population by removing bird eggs.

The author of "Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird," Andrew Blechman, argues that controlled feeding areas would be useful for addressing what he terms "compulsive feeders" — residents who single-handedly give birds staggering amounts of food and boost the population to unhealthy levels.

"You're not going to stop these people — even if it's a $1,000 fine, the compulsive feeders will go out at 2 a.m. to do it in the dark if they need to," Mr. Blechman said in a recent interview. "The only thing you want to do with compulsive overfeeders is to identify them and try to befriend them. You can't really talk sense to them, but what you can do is give them a designated area."