The Madrid City Council ends the extermination of parrots after reducing them by 30%

The Madrid City Council rules out, for the moment, continuing to reduce the number of Argentine and Kramer parrots, since currently their population is “in a stable balance,” the delegate of Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility said this Wednesday. of the Madrid City Council, Borja Carabante, in statements to the press reported by Efe.

In the last two years, the extermination campaign, which was surrounded by strong controversy when pellets were used to kill birds, has reduced the colony of this invasive species from 13,000 to 10,000 individuals, which is 30% less. , an action that has also generated a decrease in neighborhood complaints against this invasive species.

“The contract, signed for this purpose in May 2021 and lasting two years, ended in May of last year and the population was reduced as expected.

As of today, there is no new contract,” add Environment sources, who do not detail how the distribution of the parrots by district has been or where they have been most exterminated.

The City Council's action has managed to maintain "the indices established by the technical services to guarantee neighborhood rest with the protection of the capital's biodiversity," defended the delegate.

Carabante has also explained that, beyond the noise problem, the overpopulation of the parrots was dangerous for the physical integrity of the neighbors as this species installed “bulky” nests in the branches of the trees, weighing up to 200 kilos, which could cause branches to fall.

Due to their invasive behavior, parrots displace other native birds such as sparrows and are vectors of disease transmission, the City Council added.

When announcing the two-year contract, the City Council explained that Madrid was the territory where the largest concentration of Argentine parrots in all of Spain was found.

According to the census of the Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO) Birdlife, in 2019 there were 13,000 specimens - half of all those that inhabited the country - compared to the 7,000 that there were in 2015. Compared to 2005, the dizzying increase was 665% .

Kramer's parrot colony numbered 770 individuals.

At the same time as they were colonizing the city, citizen complaints increased by 136% since 2018, with Latina, Usera and Carabanchel as the districts with the highest number of complaints.

Before beginning the actions, the neighborhood with the largest population of parrots was Abrantes (Carabanchel district), with 1,142 (8.8% of the total), followed by Ciudad Universitaria (Moncloa-Aravaca) with 1,031 specimens (7.9%). , followed by Las Águilas and Lucero (Latina), and Casa de Campo (Moncloa-Aravaca), with populations between 500 to 1,000 parrots.

The companies awarded the service, Matinsa and Dypsa, were in charge of checking the nests to re-census the birds and thus facilitate the planning of the laying and population control work.

In August, coinciding with the laying and birth cycle of the birds, the eggs would be sterilized and placed back in their place to avoid new laying.

“It is the most effective technique, since controlling the clutches will reduce the rate of renewal and increase of the parrot population,” explained the Consistory.

Nests that posed a risk to the citizen or the tree would also be removed.

In the bloodiest part, they were going to “capture specimens with cage-traps and nets” and exterminate them “respecting animal welfare regulations.”

However, in November 2021, residents of the Fuente del Berro park, in the district of Salamanca, reported that they were being killed with compressed air pellets.

The City Council confirmed to this newspaper that it was “a collection action in the plan for exceptional situations” and that it complies with the authorization of the Community of Madrid to reduce these invasive exotic birds.

“The signed contract establishes the use of a compressed air rifle in specific circumstances and limited areas,” admitted a spokesperson for the Environment area.

This Wednesday, once the campaign was over, the City Council has not clarified how many of the birds were killed with shotgun pellets.

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