Magic Kingdom having Bird control issues?

[KatGat]

When did the birds at Magic Kingdom become so numerous and aggresive? On our trip there just a week or so ago, we noticed the sea gull type birds in MK swooping down on people and snatching stuff right out of their hands. I was guarding my toddler from them while he tried to eat a snack in his stroller. I've never seen so many of them and they were so aggresive it was scary. You never knew when one would suddenly swoop down on you (especially from behind). Can't they control this?

[wedway76]

That kind of thing is very hard to control because those birds got used to people feeding them. Although it seems like a nice thing to do, feeding wild birds isn't the best thing for them. If you think that a diet of French fries and hamburger buns is bad for humans, that stuff is worse for birds. They don't get the nutrition that they need.

By being hand fed they also lose their natural instinct to fear humans. That's why they are so aggressive.

[Darbylew]

The birds are not there all the time. It is so
strange about that. We were there in November
and didn't see any but other times we have been there. We will be going the first week of
April so I will see if they are still there at that
time. :mickey:

[bshaw96]

We noticed the same thing last week, especially over in Frontier Land. Actually watched one grab an ice cream cone from a baby. Was scary, b/c it could have been her finger. Don't know what they could do, but like the above poster said, they're used to being fed. Noticed the same thing with squirrels at Hollywood Studios while we were eating at an outside table. Walked right up to us and just stood there, like they were waiting for food.

[Von-Drake]

My family and I make it a very strong point never to feed the wildlife anywhere we go, but with so many other people doing and thinking it's cute, kind of makes our effort obsolete.

[MickeyChick]

It happened to me!!!I was eating a churro in Frontierland and a seagull divebombed me and snatched half of it. I was both pretty annoyed and pretty scared. It took more than half! There's got to be something they could do--like ultrasonic soundwaves or something.

[PrincessEmmasMommy]

There's always alka seltzer, j/k. I haven't noticed it personally yet at WDW, but at Busch Gardens in Tampa this has been a problem for years. I hope they can figure it out soon! The story about the baby with the Ice cream is scary. I bet there will be emotional trauma for years after that one.
Jen

[Jasper]

This has been a problem virtually since the park opened. Any time you have humans and food the animals, in this case the birds, are going to take advantage of the situation. As others have already mentioned it is an up and down problem. I am not certain as to why it is but sometimes we have been there when it was horrible and other times it was not very bad.

There really is not a whole lot that Disney can do that they don't already do. The most important thing they do is to empty the trash and keep the litter, especially food scraps, swept up. The best way to help reduce the problem is to get visitors to stop feeding the birds and to use the trash cans instead of throwing food and trash on the ground. Regardless of how hard Disney tries there are always going to be people who don't understand how their actions impact the situation.

[#1donaldfan]

Maybe it's a migratory thing....we don't notice this during summer....we normally go in June / July...?????

[JPelle76]

Yeah they are crazy! A few years ago we were waiting on line for Astro Orbiter outside by the tables (can't remember the name of the CTS where you can get those yummy turkey legs!) and watched one of those seaguls swoop down and grab somones hot dog and then procede to fight with the other gulls on who was going to eat it. It was kinda funny but also scrary at the same time.

[KylesMom]

As many have stated, this is an ongoing problem and one that could only be controlled if visitors didn't feed the birds. All you can do is be aware of your surroundings so that you aren't caught unaware when the culprits try and take your food.:darth: We see this daily, no matter what park we're at.

[Piglet822]

I used to work in Frontierland and I would watch the gulls literally swoop down, just as folks here have described and snatch what they could.
I also used to watch people with their turkey legs tear off the skin and feed it to these very same birds!!!!!
I cannot stress enough the importance of NOT feeding the wildlife at WDW or any other place. It upsets the natural balance of their diet and the animal over time will lose their fear of humans and soon associate people with food.
Many gators here in Florida have lost their life because of this.
Ok, I'll step down off my :soapbox: now.

[Ian]

My brother lost a churro once to an overagressive seagull in Epcot ...

We thought this was a relatively new phenomenon ourselves, until just recently when we watched an old home movie of my Uncle's family vacationing in WDW in 1983.

There were seagulls all over the place.

[dolphinmickey9170]

We have never had a problem until we were there in December. My DH and I were getting chicken nugs at the McD's shack in Epcot and all of a sudden there were tons of gulls divebombing and stealing. My DH covered the food with his jacket while we walked toward Canada. I was petrified. I hate birds. Scared to death of them.

[LudwigVonDrake]

Maybe it's a migratory thing....we don't notice this during summer....we normally go in June / July...?????

I know it's just as bad in July. I've seen birds near the food area of Blizzard Beach literally attack people for their share of french fries. Scary stuff.

People need to stop feeding the birds :nono:

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

we went last Sunday and we ate at Cosmic Ray's and DD wanted to eat outside, so we go outside to sit at a table and as we are walking, one of those stupid birds flies INTO THE BACK OF MY HEAD trying to get the food on my tray. ugh. :sick:

[Aggie97]

I had a largish sea bird go after a ring on my right hand back in Feb. 2000. I was sitting in a chair at Aunt Polly's on Tom Sawyer Island, with my arm dangling over the chair - no food in sight (not that I would ever feed wildlife anyway) - but I guess the bird liked the shininess of the gold ring. Bird had a long, narrow, pointy beak, so I ended up with several small cuts on my ring finger. I have to say I was pretty surprised to see this bird pecking at my finger and trying to grab hold of that ring! It was funny at the time, but if a child/baby had been involved, it definitely would not have been amusing at all.

[Main Street Jim]

I could tell ya a story about what we saw in the park on Saturday...but it's not a discussion for here :\

Like others have said...and it's not just the seagulls...it's the ducks and ibis as well as other critters, namely large amphibious reptiles that live in the Rivers of America...LOLOLOL

[disneydeb]

I could tell ya a story about what we saw in the park on Saturday...but it's not a discussion for here :\

Like others have said...and it's not just the seagulls...it's the ducks and ibis as well as other critters, namely large amphibious reptiles that live in the Rivers of America...LOLOLOL


So , where was Allie Gator?

[NJDad]

Are birds like us in that they prefer fries to what's good for them?

Guessing Disney either tried to still does put out more bird appropriate food away from Pecos Bills or Cosmic Rays to tempt them away?

[bleukarma]

I was there on Sunday and I noticed a lot of birds around. I noticed a big problem around Peco’s Bills and Splash Mountain. I made the comment that if people would stop feeding the birds then maybe the birds would go away. It annoys me when I go to a beach or a public place and I see someone feeding the birds. I don’t understand how people don’t know that they aren’t supposed to feed the birds!!!!!!!!! Disney has signs in the bathroom of how to wash your hands, they need signs around the park telling people to not feed the birds!!
I also noticed a lot of ducks around. They are cute, but they will just walk right up to anybody. They aren’t afraid of people at all!

[Main Street Jim]

Disney has signs in the bathroom of how to wash your hands, they need signs around the park telling people to not feed the birds!!There are. People just ignore the signs.

If I'm in costume, I'll say something. I used to work parades on Main Street, and saw people up at Casey's all the time feeding the birds, right next to, and I mean RIGHT NEXT to the "Please don't feed the birds" signs....<sigh>

[murphy1]

I think seagulls are just really aggressive anyway. I grew up there and even when people weren't feeding them, the seagulls would attack or swoop around. I also tell people not to feed the animals. I think those ducks at Flame Tree BBQ are the worst! But they can't help it, people think it's "fun" to feed them. I have a reverence toward nature not to disturb it.

I also got attacked twice by these black birds at the POFQ pool, they scared me, it was like "The Birds" movie.

[Von-Drake]

There are. People just ignore the signs.

If I'm in costume, I'll say something. I used to work parades on Main Street, and saw people up at Casey's all the time feeding the birds, right next to, and I mean RIGHT NEXT to the "Please don't feed the birds" signs....<sigh>

This is the worst spot for us and we have to eat there at least once during our visits. It's just not right if we do not eat at Casey's. We love the atmosphere, especially when the piano player is there. But have to admit we keep a very close eye on the birds.

[laprana]

We never noticed the birds being a big problem until we were at WDW last December. They were all over the place, especially MK! They were dive bombing people, following people, all looking for food. It was a little unnerving sometimes!

We usually go in June and never noticed the large groups of birds flying right over people's heads in the parks then. But we've always seen the ducks and other birds that gather around the outdoor seating areas at restaurants. Last June, a few ducks were following my mom and sister around outside of Gasparilla Grill at GF. The ducks all gathered 'round when they found a seat outside, but my mom and sis never gave them any food. It must have made the ducks mad, because while they were sitting at the table, one of the ducks reached up and bit my mom right on the behind! Boy, was she surprised! :eek:

[DNS]

My family and I make it a very strong point never to feed the wildlife anywhere we go, but with so many other people doing and thinking it's cute, kind of makes our effort obsolete.

I think this is best. Best for the birds and the guests. I have to say though that I don't know what Disney could possibly do other than put a net around the park or do something awful to the birds. Maybe people just need to be aware that they should not be feeding the birds. A few signs or notations on the park maps.

[KatGat]

Wow! It sounds like I'm certainly not alone when it comes to scary bird encounters! We normally go in November and I've never seen it like this. I was there in April when we only had to fight with one duck (no, not Donald) for our tuna sandwich. We were outside of the Plaza Restaurant eating a sandwich and a duck comes over and grabs a bite! I love animals but the beaks on all these fine, feathered friends can inflict some pain. As for our recent trip, I really didn't know that birds ate dairy products, so I was surpised that it attached a lady from behind for her Mickey bar. Now, the man walking and eating a turkey leg was probably a prime target, but ice cream?!? Maybe Disney can lure the birds away to some safe haven that's more like their natural habitat. Of course, all things being equal, I guess I don't blame them for choosing the Mickey bar over bugs...:(

[MickeyChick]

My sweetie reminded me that the birds got most of my son's popcorn near Pecos Bill's while we were waiting for the parade. He's only 2 and not the most coordinated child so he spilled some out on his stroller tray and knocked the cup to the ground and the birds swarmed him.

Kinda scary for a little guy.

[MNNHFLTX]

Are birds like us in that they prefer fries to what's good for them?They (and other wildlife) probably just go for easy-pickings, which is what french fries are at WDW. Which is probably why there is very little that Disney personnel can do to deter them, except to educate people with the signs and then clean up after them very quickly.

[NJDad]

They should really ban Walt's favorite song from WDW.

I can remember back when Aunt Polly's had food the birds swooping down and taking mayonnaise packets. Guess they figured out an easy way to open them.

[Main Street Jim]

Don't leave snacks (crackers, popcorn, sandwiches, food in a plastic Wal-Mart bagetc.) sitting on a parked stroller while you're in/on an attraction. Happens all the time out there at Speedway - birds attacking a stroller full of food - then *I* get yelled at by guests for "letting the birds get my food!!" Not my job to "protect" your lunch...LOLOLOL...

[4myprincesses]

A friend recently had her WHOLE churro snatch right out of her hand (she would have fought for it but her 16 mo old was in her other arm!) It really has gotten worse. The worst I saw this last trip (in Jan) was ducks walking right into Casey's without even hesitating. Not into the outdoor area but right into the actual building!

We do put snacks away and pick up if our kids are leaving a crumb trail. Every bit helps. Just imagine if all those strollers of kids dropped three fries and all the grandma's took pics of their older grandkids feeding the ducks just a couple pieces of popcorn, and then the dad's seeing how far they can throw a piece of pretzle to the sea gulls...it adds up fast and yes these are all things I've seen just on our last trip! Good thing some of us save feeding the animals for petting zoos.

[ibrowse17]

I think so, both at MK and the AK. Last week we ate at the Flame Tree at AK, and watched a bird do it's business from a tree onto a table full of people. Pretty gross.:ack:

[tinklover]

We were ther in May and we were in line to get turkey legs in fronteir land. ther ewas this heron or crane type bird who was becoming very aggressive and the one cm said it was due to people feeding him and the cm's had named him George. well we went across teh way to get a seat for the woody parade and guess who showed up and was trying to peck us because we were ignoring him, you got it GEORGE!!!! my DD's were petrified. a CM came over and scared him off but it was scary.

[Dakota Rose]

Ok, at quick glance, I thought the topic was "Magic Kingdom having BirTH control issues." :rotfl: I thought, "oh boy, we're gonna have little MKs running around!" I guess I just have babies on the brain. :baby:

[MushuMulan]

I have to say, out of all the times I have been to WDW, I have never seen an overabundance of birds just the normal amount.

But it's pretty obvious it's something that just can't be changed anymore. Wherever there is humans, there will be birds, it's been going on for centuries.

As for keeping the birds away. there really is no way to do this. The only way I can think of is something I saw when I was in London, which is putting spikes on the building to deter the birds from perching. But this, even if it is effective, wouldn't make the park look too pretty, and so I doubt Disney would ever consider this.

The best thing you can do is be wary of your surroundings, one of the main reasons that birds snatch food from people is because they know that the person is not paying attention.

[pixiesmimi]

I have to say that we have been to WDW many times at different times of the year and have never seen this problem with the birds or ducks. The only ducks we saw in Aug. were the ones on the water and a couple at one of the bus stops that people were taking pictures of. I'm sure people had been feeding them, though, or they wouldn't have stayed around. The only birds I have noticed are the Starlings or whatever the small brown birds are. I notice them around wherever food is but haven't seen any of them attacking people. I hardly saw any seagulls at all. I do know they will attack you for food though. When we lived in CA and had an Easter Egg hunt in the neighborhood (no where near the water) seagulls flew in and took the eggs away from the little ones or picked them up before the kids could get to them. My DD who was only 18 mo. old had one take an egg out of her hand and scared her to death. Maybe they just have a radar as to where food is in abundance because we didn't feed them or try to attract them in any way. I have always hated the movie The Birds and that is what this reminds me of. I would be tempted not to go back very often if this happened all the time at WDW. But I can't think of anything the park can do about it save putting a net over the whole park. :) Scary to think they are getting more aggressive. Maybe when beach season gets here, they will go back to the beach to bother the people down there. :)

[garymacd]

Yeah they are crazy! A few years ago we were waiting on line for Astro Orbiter outside by the tables (can't remember the name of the CTS where you can get those yummy turkey legs!)

It's called the Lunching Pad. Thought you might want to know.

[thrillme]

Ok, at quick glance, I thought the topic was "Magic Kingdom having BirTH control issues." :rotfl: I thought, "oh boy, we're gonna have little MKs running around!" I guess I just have babies on the brain. :baby:

You're not alone there...I thought this was going to be quite a different discussion regarding quite a population of new mousketeers...:D

Yeah...I'm guilty :( of passing out a fry or two. A thousand lashes to me. SIGH...alas...especially where "water birds" are concerned...like Sea Gulls. It doesn't matter if you feed them or not, these beasts are the way they are. Down at our coast we avoid feeding them and they're around anyway. When you're fishing...they'll go after your bait when you cast. Seagulls especially will wait for any an all instances of discard. If they don't get it they'll take it. Theme parks...there's just to much food regardless of whether or not someone gives it to them.

Birds like food. I recall at gatorland one time I had gotten some fish to feed the gators. A HUGE crane (came up to my chest and had a wing span of OH MY HEAVENS!!!!) swooped down and swiped a fish I had just taked out to throw to a gator. We played tug of war with it for a while with me screaming at the silly thing. My new husband (we were on our honeymoon)...was poking and yelling at me to let go of the fish. I yelled at the bird...it's MINE...Leggo..MINE...Eventually long manicured nails, a slippery fish and a determined crane...I lost the battle but not before I had an audience laughing their keesters off including my husband.

At a local wildlife park we had our bag of food for the animals. While driving thru one of the aggressive ostriches reached in the car and grabbed the bag of food from my DS...He screamed and threw the whole bag at him. He did receive a small nip but was fine. I bought him a banner that said "I survived the Ostrich" later on at the gift shop.

[LudwigVonDrake]

Last July we ate lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ and sat down by the water. The ducks were out of control. They just kept doing the circuit of tables looking for and trying to get any scraps that fell. They would just stand there and stare at you figuring you were going to give in and feed them. If that didn't work, they'd try the next table.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Wild birds causing problems?
2) Balderdash!
3) Nothing happens at Disney by accident.
4) They went through great pains to train them that way!

5) There is a whole crew of people hired
. . . to teach alligators to open mouths when people are near
. . . to teach peacocks how to screech loudly
. . . to teach fish how to swim "the Disney Way"
. . . to teach mesquites to bite easily
. . . to teach 5-foot chipmunks to interact with guests

[LudwigVonDrake]

Are there any parks where the problem is less than others? I've only really seen major issues at MK and Blizzard Beach. :mickey:

[WinnipegDisneyFanatic]

We never fed them, but in May 2007 one of those long-beaked birds jumped on our table, tried to stab my burger and only got away with the bun. Other people on the patio at Pecos Bills had a good laugh...as did I.

Best part was, that was an extra burger we got because it was placed on our tray by mistake, so they CM offered it to us.

We were full when the pesky bird came around.

Chris :hatter:

[DisneyCrazyET]

We were sitting inside Capt'n Cooks at the Poly.
There were a few people sitting outside.
The ducks were fighting over which one was going to sit under their table and try for cumbs. There ended up being no crumbs, so the ducks all lost out.
I noticed at the CBR there were wires strung across the patio by the food court.
When we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, in Ohio, they had those nail looking spikes on all the beams. (If you know where to get them I could use them for the spring, robins try nesting everywhere even on our tires)