Why are Pigeons a protected bird?

Question

I saw a recent article saying that in California they are going to try to curb the pigeon population by using birth control. Why can we just not trap and exterminate them? The common pigeon has become a pest in almost every sized town, city, and area that people live. "Rats with wings" is a very true comparison. And now adding birthcontrol to bird feed is an acceptable solution?

Why are pigeons protected and why are there not better more effective ways to reduce their numbers.

Answer 1

A .22 "reduces" them very nicely.

Answer 2

There are more effective ways to remove pigeons, but hippies don't want them killed so this is about the only option.

Answer 3

The reasoning behind this may be that if you simply exterminate the pigeons they will be replaced by birds coming in from other areas.

Answer 4

You can thank extremist organizations like PETA for this non-sense.  To trap and exterminate the pigeons would be considered cruel.  Poisoning them would cause health concerns from dead pigeons that were not disposed of properly.  So now, it is birth control.

Answer 5

be thankful those pigeons make good tar roof tops. and it is for free.

Answer 6

they're feeding pigeons drugs now, thats just stupid they're probably going to have all these health issues from the birth control