Killing a Pigeon
In some places it is legal to kill invasive bird species like pigeons, using a variety of methods that we will discuss below. It's our job as wildlife managment professionals to educate you that this is not the best option and can result in both legal action, destruction of property, and other troubles that are completely avoidable.
Poisoning Pigeons
Pigeon poison goes by a common name in this industry: avicide. Avicide is approved for use on pigeons in certain areas, and it is up to you and wildlife specialists in your area to be knowledgable about when and where you can safely disperse this poison to alleviate your bird woes.
Shooting Pigeons
The attic is certainly not a place to shoot a pigeon, and neither is the garage, or your front lawn, or anywhere on your property. It may be legal in your area to discharge a firearm to exterminate nuisance wildlife, including pigeons and other birds, but this must be done with extreme care in order to ensure the safety of humans and property nearby. Professionals in this industry almost never perform a bird extermination with a pistol or rifle, and homeowners should take care to avoid this as much as possible. A good case for this is if you were to miss and injure the pigeon. They would not only cause a great mess as they try to escape, but this is torture and completely inhumane. There are other options that we posit in this article that are more effective and have no negative reprecussions.
Using Kill Traps on Pigeons
Pigeon and bird kill traps can be easily purchased from online retailers. They are readily available in some tractor supply stores and hardware stores as well. One of the reasons why our technicians don't use traps, let alone kill traps, is that they must be checked at least once daily to ensure that you don't have a dead pigeon attracting flies or larger wildlife into the space.
Feeding Human Medicines or Food to Pigeons
No, Alka-Seltzer won't blow up your problem pigeons and give you and your pals a good laugh. They are just as able to process the chemicals in Alka-Seltzer as humans are–yes, birds can burp. Don't be disappointed.
Another urban myth is that rice can quickly take down the urban scavenger. Wrong. Even a large quantity of rice will not expand enough inside a pigeon before they poop it out. You're literally adding poop fuel to the poop fire, dude.
The Best and Only Option: Exclusion
Exclusion ensures that the pigeons live to create waste another day and exit your space as soon as possible. While this may take longer than taking out an air rifle or small caliber firearm and picking them off one-by-one, there's no blood to clean up and you don't risk getting a friendly policeman knocking at your door and asking what the cause of all the ruckus is.