Old and novel methods for estimating Feral Pigeons (Columba livia f. domestica) population size: a reply to Amoruso et al. (2013)

Abstract

In a recent paper Amoruso et al. (2013) proposed a novel method for estimating\ud population size of Feral Pigeons, the Superimposed Urban Strata (SUS) method. In our reply\ud we firstly comment on the lack of a complete review of the available literature. Secondly we\ud point out that the SUS method does not account for birds detection probability and thus it is\ud just a simple index of abundance as many others proposed in recent years. Thirdly, we\ud question the approach used by the authors to evaluate the reliability of their method. To\ud conclude, we believe that the SUS method is not truly innovative and that further\ud investigations are needed before considering it as a reliable way for estimating Feral Pigeons\ud populations size

Use of Fertility Control (Nicarbazin) in Barcelona: An Effective yet Respectful Method towards Animal Welfare for the Management of Conflictive Feral Pigeon Colonies

“…The increasing trend that was registered in the control group corresponds with the increasing trend obtained from the pigeon surveys that were conducted in the city of Barcelona when no control strategy was in effect (2015 survey: 85,777+/−10,028 pigeons; 2017 survey: 103,226+/−14,353 pigeons [ 26 ]). Despite the criticism of the survey method, due to its estimation of the pigeon population in a city as a whole instead of independent colonies, the use of controversial indexes and high confidence intervals (15% CI provided) [ 27 , 28 ], the results were considered as supportive information for the study and as an index of relative abundance.…”

Reducing the availability of food to control feral pigeons: changes in population size and composition

“…The experimental and control squares were surveyed by walking along all roads in each sample unit (circuitous path), where we counted all visible pigeons (quadrate counts) . Because a part of the population can be hidden and remain undetected, bird detection probability must be considered . In previous work we derived a correction factor of 3.5 to account for detectability of pigeons based on a double sampling procedure using visual surveys and capture–recapture approaches .…”

An improved method to estimate pigeon populations in urban areas

“…However, these methods estimate pigeon population in a city as a whole and used controversial indexes (Giunchi, Vanni, Soldatini, Albores-Barajas & Baldaccini, 2014).…”