Estima de la abun-dancia de palomas (Columba livia var.) de la ciudad de Barcelona y valoración de la efectividad del control por eliminación de individuos.

Estimate of the abundance of pigeons (Columba livia var.) in the city of Barcelona and evaluation of effectiveness of elimination measuresCulling is one of the most com-monly used methods to control urban pigeon populations. The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) eliminated a total of 227,479 pigeons using this technique between 1991 and 2006. We compared the estimate of abundance of pigeons in Barcelona city in 1991 (183.667 ± 14.914) with that in 2006 (256.663 ± 26.210) (CI 95%). While pigeon density did not increase in the city centre during this period, density in a ring around the city increa-sed significantly, leading to a general increase in the urban population of these birds. The number of complaints regarding pigeons received per district did not correlate with abundance. ASPB culling per district correlated with abundance and not with numbers of complaints received, indicating interventions generally followed a technical protocol. Pigeon density per district correlated significantly with the human population density but not with the total number of inhabitants. Findings indicate the effectiveness of culling is low in this setting and suggest greater emphasis should be placed on control measures centered on limiting factors, particularly reduction of food availability and nest removal.