Seagulls the feathered scourge of Paris claim police

The birds: Paris has been overrun by gulls. Photo / Instagram, @lifadiyo

The Paris Gendarme may have survived the plots of anarchists, revolutionaries, and a German occupation. However the Parisian police force has since declared the streets overrun with a new reign of terror: seagulls.

Unseasonable weather and dwindling food supplies at the coast have seen the birds head inland to scavenge, and this has caused misery for residents, tourists and the constabulary.

Paris' tourists have already noticed the increase of the birds and their guano on landmarks.

"In the spring we used to hear sparrows, it was the sound of dawn and was very pleasant," said Anne Castro based in the hilly Bellville district. "But now it's the raucous cries of these bothersome gulls!"

However it is the police who have complained the loudest.

The Paris force has reported ten attacks by the birds on UAV drones since the spring nesting season.

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The drones which have been used in surveillance operations during the yellow-vest protests have been taken out of action, reports The Times. Since the danger of flying these UAVs over crowds is increased by the risk of mobbings by seagulls most of the drones have had to be retired.

It seems the gulls are preventing them from taking up a birds-eye view.

The ornithological centre for the Paris area say there has been a steady rise of the number of birds over the last 15 years.

Since the early 1990s the number of Parisian gulls has risen to about 60 resident breeding pairs. There has also been an increasing diversity of squabbling gull species. The dominant herring gull is a new arrival and latest contender for air supremicy with black-backed and yellow-legged gulls also sighted.

Police have said they are developing ultrasonic bird-scarers to clear the air. Until then the seagulls rule the roost.