BIRDS ARE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

The birds are back.

Blackbirds, starlings, robins, and an unidentified specie or two have taken up residence in a Cape Girardeau area which stretches from North Cape Rock Drive along a line to Independence and West End Boulevard.

The annual arrival of the birds seeking nighttime roosting places has resulted in a lot of pan-banging, hand-clapping an other types of noises created by residents hoping to roust the roosting birds from their perches.

"We have birds every year," said Charles Chuck Stucker, police department' animal control officer. "Some years are worse than others and this is one the `worse' years."

"...It seems that the harsh winters bring them out," he said.

The birds feed in fields during the day and return to their perches at night.

Stucker has brought out the city's "big gun" to help move the birds southward through the city.

The gun is the city's special gas cannon, purchased from the Missouri Department of Conservation in early 1990 to scare the birds away then.

Starting as the afternoon light starts to fade each evening, usually about 5 to 5:30 p.m., the gas cannon is set to fire at intervals from 10 seconds to 30 minutes.

There is no danger from the cannon. It works with propane gas and shoots air.

The loud noise, however, scares the birds and keeps them moving south.

"Hopefully, we'll eventually move them south of the city," said Stucker.

The birds, thousands of them, are taking over trees and bushes in the areas where they roost.

"The birds look for cedar and fir trees during cold weather," said Stucker. "But during the warmers days, the pick on trees where the leaves have already dropped. More birds can perch on the bare trees."

Stucker said he hopes the warming weather continues.

"The birds keep moving in the warm weather," he said. "But if we have another cold spell they'll stay here, looking the trees and bushes with foliage."

The only way to get rid of the birds is to make a lot of noise, Stucker continued.

"We're looking for help. If people will start banging on pots and pans just before dark it will keep the birds moving," he said. "If they start moving, the cannon noise will drive them farther south."

Stucker cautions against the use of firearms.

"We never allow the use of firearms to scare off the birds," he said. "That includes BB guns."

The birds are more scared of the dark than the noise, said Stucker. If the birds get situated by dark, they'll stay overnight.

The majority of the birds gathering here are starlings and blackbirds.

"But I have noticed some robins in the bunch," said Stucker.

The birds are expected to remain in the area into March.

"Usually they come here in November or December and are gone by now," said Stucker. "They were late this year."

The birds are a nuisance to the people in the area, and the droppings eventually can be a health hazard.

The building up of bird droppings can cause cases of histoplasmosis, a respiratory disease.