Falcons drafted in to scare off defecating starlings from Rome

Plan to clean up Italian capital condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaigners

Authorities in Rome have enlisted falcons to scare off defecating starlings, as the Italian capital plays host to a growing menagerie of animals, including gulls, wild boars and sheep.

Starlings pass through the city in late autumn as they migrate to warmer climes for winter, soiling its cobblestones and riverbanks with sticky guano and bothering residents and tourists, who often use umbrellas to avoid the droppings.