A couple and their neighbours have gone to court over a dispute about bird droppings after their properties were left ‘soiled’ in excrement.
Four residents based in the city of Harahan, Louisiana, filed a complaint about their neighbours after they introduced public structures that allegedly lured hundreds of birds into the area.
It is believed that birds that flock to small areas in great numbers pose a safety risk when they defecate on public property in great numbers.
The four residents, complained that their cars and patio furniture were covered in bird droppings from Blue Martins since their neighbours started fitting posts and nests in their backyard.
Since Blue Martin populations have suffered a population decline, the birds have become heavily dependent on humans to give them a place to nest.
Blue Martin
This incited Andrew and Carol Stamm to equip their backyard with housing as the migratory songbirds passed through Louisiana on their 7,000-mile migration.
On their journey from Brazil to the North, however, they scattered “a significant volume of excrement onto surrounding personal and real property”, according to the Stamm’s neighbour Steven Peyronnin.
Peyronnin and three other neighbours have submitted pictures of the aftermath and argue that the birds pose a health hazard to people and pets.
The resident, who lives opposite the road from the Stamm, has complained that the couple has too much public structure, creating a public nuisance and violating the city code.
As a result, a recommendation has been made to the City Council on how to advance with the matter, Nola.com has reported.
The couple responsible for the nesting structures have argued that the dropping cannot be entirely attributed to the purple martins, however.
They have reportedly visited other residents in the neighbourhood to collect letters and signatures, arguing that they far outnumber their neighbours’ complaints.
