Rome scares off its starlings

Once a year, millions of birds known as starlings travel south from northern Europe to spend the winter in Italy's gentler climate.

Eva Osuna's travelled from Spain to see them.

Eva Osuna: "It's beautiful, it's very beautiful. It's the first time I've seen it. I had heard about it, but it's the first time I've seen it."

In the skies above Rome, the starlings' huge displays attract attention. But not everything about the birds is attractive. The starlings sleep in Rome's trees and leave enormous amounts of bird poo on the ground, which also smells awful.

Even when the weather's fine, it's possible to see people walking down the city streets holding umbrellas. This acts as a protection against the birds.

One operation, named Fauna Urbis, has been asked by the council to deal with the problem. Valentina De Tommaso, an employee, explains how and why they separate the birds.

Valentina De Tommaso: "We act on their fear reflex, by using their own alarm call so that they move to less populated places. Because their presence on the trees makes cars dirty, the ground dirty, disturbs passers-by, not to mention the noise that they make."

They produce a sound similar to the birds' own danger call, which doesn't harm them. It simply warns them they should leave.

This is a big responsibility. Starling numbers have reached approximately one million in Rome this year. The issue's a topic for discussion among city inhabitants like Francesco Fusco, who can see both sides.

Francesco Fusco: "Walking under a tree where there are starlings is not ideal, and it can cause problems. But indeed, if the city is a reference point for these birds, because it is a stop on their migration route, then they have the right to stop here."

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