Hamburg Central Station has a bad reputation. Narrow platforms guarantee ungodly crowds. In the foyer and in front of it: drug use, thefts, homelessness. And then there are the city pigeons. High up in the steel framework, they coo and deliver a performance that perfectly suits the mood of travelers after the fifth rail strike: They suck at everything.
Now the birds are certainly not the most pressing problem in the Hanseatic city, but they are one that can be addressed comparatively easily. This week the citizens want to launch a three-year pilot project that combines animal protection and cleanliness. Three so-called supervised pigeon lofts are to be built at each of the train stations in Altona and the center. The animals can nest there and are fed regularly. Some of the eggs should be replaced with dummies and the population should thus be regulated. It is hoped that this will result in less damage to the historic facades, fewer complaints from residents and less “pedestrianism” of pigeons. This is what they say when the hungry birds, contrary to their nature, go looking for food on the ground, find chips and vomit, get upset stomachs and injuries – and the annoyance of passers-by.
The Hamburg project, which is based on the so-called Augsburg model, is expected to cost 350,000 euros per year. There and in other German cities there are experiences with pigeon lofts of this type, not all of them good ones. Sometimes the animals just come to eat their fill, but prefer to nest on the neighborhood balconies. Scientific evidence of effectiveness is rare. The necessary pigeon counts are complex and expensive – and are not planned in Hamburg for the time being either. It would be better to put the money into implementation, says Lisa Maria Otte, spokeswoman for animal protection for the green parliamentary group. “The fact that construction, operation and feeding are now completely borne by the city is new on this scale in Germany. All of this can no longer rest on the shoulders of volunteers.”
There are already dovecotes in Hamburg, but so far they have mostly been looked after and cleaned by animal lovers – hard physical work for which it is becoming increasingly rare to find someone. Marion Oechsle from the “Hamburger Stadttauben” association has been raising awareness about the “misunderstood animals” for eleven years. She and her colleagues run several domiciles, including the “Casa Grimaud”, a station for pigeons that have lost a leg or a wing.
Once pampered as flying mail carriers, their free-living descendants are now often denounced as “rats of the air.” When dealing with the unloved animal, people have long relied on deterrence. Metal spikes on window sills, specially released hawks and buzzards. In Limburg, people recently considered killing the birds by breaking their necks. Marion Oechsle is very happy that her city is looking for a peaceful solution. “I would like to see more politicians take responsibility for the animals,” she says. The housing shortage in the Hanseatic city – at least for pigeons – could soon be alleviated.