TIRED of bird droppings on the city's most
famous monuments, local authorities in Rome are resorting to unusual measures
to try and scare off a million starlings that migrate to the Eternal City every
year.
Armed with loudspeakers and light projectors,
workers dressed in white overalls and masks have been seen walking around at
sunset along the tree-lined embankments of the Tiber River where starlings tend
to congregate.
The loudspeakers blast out shrieks of alarm used
by the starlings and the projectors are shone into the trees to scare off the
birds.
"Their reaction is immediate," city
hall said in a statement on Friday.
"The starlings abandon the area and get as
far away as possible from the area, which they consider dangerous," it
said, adding that the method "respects the environment and the birds and
does not create a nuisance for residents".
The sound-and-light attacks last around an hour
and are always carried out at dusk for three days in a row to ensure the
desired effect.
Rome has the highest number of starlings in
Italy - around a million are estimated to migrate there every autumn and
winter.
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