Rome experiences a "rain" of droppings: people walk with umbrellas VIDEO
Huge flocks of starlings, which have arrived in Rome for the winter, cover streets, sidewalks, and cars with droppings. Residents hide under umbrellas, cover laundry with plastic, and move cars away from trees.
Every evening around 5 PM in Rome's Prati Fiscali district, a race for safe parking begins. Starlings flock to trees and antennas, where they spend the night. A car left underneath them is completely covered in droppings by morning.
To go to the supermarket, people choose a longer route or open an umbrella. It's also needed when walking the dog.
Besides the stench and deafening bird noise, there's another danger: droppings-covered sidewalks become slippery. Car washes charge more for cleaning such cars.
To scare away the starlings, people bang pots from windows, blow whistles, and even play flutes.
Ornithologist Francesco Barberini explains to Fanpage: more than four million starlings winter in Rome. The city attracts them with its warmth, shelter, and relatively small number of predators. During the day, they can feed in the surrounding countryside, and in the evening, they return to communal roosts.
The specialist advises covering cars with covers: acidic bird droppings can damage the paint.
Authorities are trying to redirect the flocks to green areas using recordings of distress calls and lights directed at tree canopies. But, according to residents, the starlings fly away and then return.