A new study suggests that feral pigeons in Malta prefer older and more traditional buildings rather than modern ones, with historic town centres providing the birds more opportunities to roost.

Research conducted by Cassandra Borg Muscat, Fiona Sammut and Patrick J. Schembri, from the Faculty of Science at the University of Malta, looked into the factors that influence where pigeons choose to make their homes as well as how abundant they are in certain areas.

The paper was published in the latest edition of Xjenza, a local science journal run by the Malta Chamber of Scientists.

Fieldwork documenting where pigeons reside across five districts in Malta was carried out between May and August of 2020, with a two-month hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Pigeons were found to be abundant in Valletta and the towns that surrounded the northern harbour area, followed by the southern harbour area, with the least number of pigeons being observed in the northern area.

The researchers found that public open spaces and town centres were the most popular locations for pigeons, while suburbs were the least desired by the feathered subjects.

Although the authors note that more research is needed in this area, they say that the population distribution of pigeons suggests that they prefer the architecture of old buildings to modern architecture.

“The ‘main road’ was located in the historic centres of the towns surveyed, which represented the oldest part of a town. Old buildings provide ample roosting places through their more elaborate design, with high physical complexity,” they said.

'Town centres, public parks host ideal conditions': authors

The abundance of restaurants in old town centres also provides pigeons with opportunities to scavenge for food, the study found.

“Public open spaces are usually situated in the vicinity of a parish church or chapel, whose architecture offers many opportunities for the pigeons to roost. Apart from this, people enjoy eating in parks, providing another indirect food source for the birds, or even a direct one when people feed pigeons.”

This is why, the authors suggest, both historic town centres and public parks host ideal conditions for pigeons to live in.

In contrast, the study also found that the common factor in places where pigeons were less likely to reside was modern buildings.

“According to the negative binomial regression, the abundance of feral pigeons is mostly affected by the presence of modern buildings and the relationship is a negative one, i.e., abundance is low where there is a preponderance of modern buildings,” they say.