Feeding birds in public places: Muscat Municipality seeks views

Muscat- Muscat Municipality has raised concerns that the habits of feeding birds in public squares and places can lead adversely affect the health of people, the local environment, and the aesthetic appearance of neighborhoods.

The municipality is also taking a public opinion on the matter that ‘feeding birds in public squares and jogging walkways may pose a challenge to the environment and health in some areas where such practice is carried out randomly.”

While the habit of feeding birds in public squares creates an accumulation of grain and food residues in open places with time, it can also lead to bad odors emitted from these residues, and droppings of birds.

Feeding birds in places dedicated to walking can lead to inconvenience for passers-by apart from providing an attractive environment for insects, worms, and parasites.

Migration of buildings:

The phenomenon of feeding birds in some locations near multi-story buildings has led to situations where these birds take shelter in balconies, external lobbies of buildings, and external units of air-conditioners, causing external damage.

Visitors and residents of buildings also complain of unpleasant smells of buildings from bird droppings or even interruption of some services due to damages to electrical and communication cables.

This situation can also affect the owners of the buildings negatively due to a lack of interest from existing and new tenants to stay at the property.