Letter: It is wrong to demonise wild birds

Is this not the second article about the so-called "Birdman", John Butler, and his anti-bird alarm which scares birds using the distress call of their breed?

We also hear again from Rodney Posner, who is having a problem with seagulls - at his Meeting Place cafe, next to the beach.

He claims his customers are being attacked by pigeons and the only answer is to kill them.

But his cafe, with people eating outside by the sea, must be like a magnet to birds in the area.

Maybe he should consider moving up-country to a nice little cafe where seabirds aren't a problem and pigeons are replaced by rats and insects?

I was also disappointed with the picture used to add drama to the article. It was of a woman looking terrified, being attacked by a bird (blurred out of vision) which might not even have been a pigeon or a seagull.

I enjoy balanced articles in The Argus but this one encouraged us to hate our bird population unnecessarily.

Seagulls and pigeons are prospering from our rubbish-strewn streets, breeding according to food supply.

Feeding them may not be a great idea but, make no mistake, we created the problem.

Seagulls and pigeons are not the demonic creatures once imagined in a sci-fi horror film. Simply, they are naturally protective of their young and can be noisy and defecate, as every living thing does.

This time of year is always worst for residents vs seabirds/pigeons.

Nests with chicks are thrown off roofs and some birds suffer terrible shotgun injuries, while missiles are thrown at others sitting on nests, often injuring or killing the chicks, and there's poisoning - you name it, it's happening on a street near you.

We should be looking at humane solutions such as preventing nesting by placing harmless plastic spikes or secure netting on roofs before the nesting season begins in April.

To try to deal with it after the bird has nested, particularly in the case of herring gulls which are protected, is illegal.

-Gemma Millwood, Saltdean