Thousands of Parisians have united to defend pigeons' rights following plans to bring in birds of prey to tackle the feathered "pests".

Like many big cities, France's City of Lights is home to a plethora of pigeons, which sully its streets and roofs with droppings and whose population is a headache to regulate.

So Remy Féraud, mayor of the trendy 10th arrondissement, expected a warm response to his decision to draft in two hawks and three falcons to scare off the omnipresent birds from the area.

On his website, the mayor said the pigeons posed a "real health risk for local residents", as they potentially carry diseases dangerous to man such as bird flu. The cost of repairing social housing damaged by their corrosive droppings runs into €150,000 per year, according to Le Parisien.