Toronto police call for backup to oust birds from boathouse

Toronto police are bringing reinforcements in an ongoing battleto rid their boathouse of winged invaders they say pose a threat toofficers' and possibly the public's safety.

For years, the force's marine unit has struggled to deal with aninfestation of barn swallows, which nest in the boathouse and leaveit covered in droppings.

The birds are a protected species and cannot be disturbed duringnesting season. Moving their nests requires permission from theprovincial Ministry of Natural Resources.

In a letter to city officials last year, the Toronto PoliceServices Board called for prompt action on what it called an issuewith "potential impacts on operational resources and public safety,as well as on the health and safety of members of the Marine Unit."

The infestation "necessitates costly cleaning operations andutilizes the resources of the unit unnecessarily," the letter said.

"It can also have an adverse effect on public safety as it canat times impede emergency response due to the need to remove birdfeces from boats and equipment."

The droppings can also increase the risk of exposure to somediseases, it said.

Birds slated to stay for one more season

A new three-year project set to begin this month aims to find thebirds a new home and discourage them from returning to their currentnesting grounds, a spokeswoman for the city said.

Officers will have to deal with their unwelcome guests at leastanother season, however: the first year of the project consistsmainly of consulting with experts and surveying the barn swallow population, Natasha Hinds Fitzsimmins said in an email.

Next year, an alternate nesting site will be set up within akilometre of the boathouse, as laid out in the ministry's
requirements, she said.

Existing nests will also be removed and additional measures takento deter the birds from returning, she said.

The last year will be spent surveying the birds to see how theyrespond to the change.

"The modifications to the nesting situation will need to bemonitored year after year to determine the success of the nestingrelocation and barn swallow population," Hinds Fitzsimmins said.

Closing the doors? That didn't work

In the meantime, she said, "the best course of action to reducethe chance of bird infestation has been and continues to be to keepthe doors closed, especially during periods of bird migration."

Robert Duncan, a program co-ordinator for the Toronto policeoccupational health and safety unit, said that was "the first thingthey looked at" but it didn't work.

"They're quite small birds and unfortunately because the waterlevels fluctuate the birds were just getting underneath the doorseven when they're fully dropped," he said.

"The other problem, of course, is that because they're anemergency response unit, having the doors closed can slow down theresponse to an emergency call, so that's a public safety consideration we had to make."

He said police don't want to harm the birds, just evict them.