EFFECTS OF BUILDING DESIGN AND QUALITY ON NUISANCE BIRD PROBLEMS

Breeding populations of nuisance bird species were related to various types, designs, and quality of building construction in Columbia, Maryland. Since there were differences in the various parts of this new, planned city in types, builders, and architectural designs, it affords an excellent opportunity to study the effect these factors have on bird populations. Breeding starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), house sparrows (Passer domesticus), and pigeons (Columba livia) were unevenly distributed throughout the city, being concentrated in those specific areas with buildings having design or quality features that were favorable to these species. Specific examples of building designs and/or flaws in construction that created nuisance bird problems are described. Nuisance bird problems in newly constructed urban areas can be avoided by not using building designs that favor these birds and by preventing construction flaws that afford nuisance bird habitat