Bird deterrents recently installed around the Kolozsvár/Cluj promenade failed to keep away their intended targets, crows, but did manage to aggravate the population of the city. Nearby residents complain that the sounds and laser lights of the system have no obvious effect on the birds but are most definitely annoying people, Transindex reports.
The municipality installed the system a month ago, to keep away crows which reach an excessive population during the winter as they arrive from the colder North to tide over the winter. The devices generate ultrasounds and intermittent laser lights.Ornithologist Zoltán Benkő said the system was bound to fail because crows are highly intelligent animals which learn to ignore non-threatening factors in a short time.
He said that when the municipality asked their opinion before installing the devices, ornithologists did say that crows would either dismantle them out of curiosity or ignore them as harmless. He said the only effective measure of keeping these birds away would be to eliminate their food sources, open-air trash deposits within or near the city.
Benkő said roofing trash deposits are regularly emptying public trash bins would be the solution.
