Starlings an eternal mess for Rome

Richard Collins reports on the third Sack of Rome by noble winged knights.

IN the year 410, Alaric the Visigoth and his barbarian hordes vandalised Rome. In 1527, there being no money to pay the victorious army of Emperor Charles V, the troops looted the Eternal City.

Now, the third Sack of Rome is under way; hordes of unruly starlings have arrived from northern Europe. There are said to be five million of them. The birds spend the day feeding in the countryside, then head for town. There, the flocks join together, forming huge saturation bombing formations, which circle over buildings and parks. This is biological warfare; the waste products of the day’s feeding are dropped everywhere. Motorists are especially angry; cars parked in vulnerable areas are deluged with corrosive bird droppings. The bombing raids continue until darkness falls. Then the birds settle onto trees in the city’s parks and sleep through the night.