News Notes: Pigeons to Blame for Minneapolis Bridge Collapse?

A report at ABCNews.com cites the possibility that pigeon dung (AKA "guano") may have been an important factor in the recent collapse of the I35W bridge in Minneapolis.

Why bring this up here? Well, because uninformed people may use this finding as another "fear factor" in denouncing Quaker Parrots who nest in steel infrastructure. In fact, however, Quaker Parakeet "dung" is chemically different from pigeon dung and does not share its corrosive properties. Just ask the folks who run Green-Wood Cemetery. After the Quaker Parrots replaced the pigeons nesting in the cemetery's main gates, corrosion to this historic brownstone structure was halted.