Other cities have pigeons. Austin has pigeons, too (wood doves), but our trash bird with pride of place is the Great-tailed Grackle (quiscalus mexicanus). The male is a blackbird with rainbow sheen, and a very long tail. Their song is made up of two sounds--one like a rusty gate, traveling up and down the scale, and the other a "chuck, chuck" single "caw."
The female is smaller, brown, with black wings and tail, no rainbows for her. Also not as vociferous.
Both are considered "trash birds," just as pigeons are. They are deafeningly noisy and nose-wrinkly messy. Huge clouds of them crowd trees, utility poles, wires, anything sturdy enough to hold them up. They love trash cans and garbage dumps. They steal food from the plate of any unsuspecting human who foolishly leaves their food unguarded on a restaurant patio table--which describes most Austin eateries.
The university had a huge sanitation problem with the birds, layers of guano on sidewalks, entry-ways, garbage cans, everywhere. Everyone on campus has been gifted with a plop on the head or shoulders at least once. Critter services couldn't shoot them, so they came up with a loud canon boom thingy that frightened them away. Some faculy/staff put fake owls on their windowsills. Interspersed with church bells, local places of worship broadcast tapes of raptor birds--owls, hawks, etc. in an attempt to keep them from settling. One misbegotten project experimented with covering enclosed spaces with netting. Try not to imagine the inevitable consequences--broken bird families, entangled feet/wings, the horror of it all.
On the other hand, between the squirrels and grackles, we don't have to worry about spilled or littered food. Each and every trash bin is a popular lunch spot for squirrels. They feature private dining, and an eclectic menu, with contributions from the numerous human eating-places. Sidewalks and roads are scooped clean by bird beaks. They remind me of the catfish (hypostomus plecostomus) that clean algae in aquaria.
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