RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Paris - the city of lights and pigeons. In fact, there are so many pigeons in the French capital officials decided to do something about it. Besides being a general nuisance, a local politician said on his website that the pigeons pose a health risk for local residents, and he thought for sure people would like his plan to bring in three falcons and two hawks to scare the pigeons off. It backfired. Twenty-thousand people have signed a petition to keep the birds of prey away. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.