Photo by Blake Montgomery

The birds use the Mission Hills basketball courts as their toilet, and they’ve been terrorizing the campus for the past few weeks. “Every time I’m walking outside I make sure to be aware of the birds,” Natalie Guerrero said.

In the recent weeks, there has been a surge in the bird population on campus. After coming back from winter break, it seems as if the birds wanted to welcome students back. However, the increase of birds has elevated the chances of students being pooped on and attacked by birds.
“At lunch, I saw a girl eating her spicy chicken sandwich. She put it down for a minute and then a bird came out of nowhere and snatched it out of her tray,” freshman Valerie Perez said.
As the bird population grows, it increases the likelihood of these scenarios occurring. Freshman Natalie Guerrero also shared her experiences with the rogue birds.
“I was walking to the vending machines, unwrapping my spicy chicken sandwich. And as I was trying to get my chips out of the vending machine, a bird came and snatched the sandwich out of my hand,” Guerrero said.
In addition, the birds on campus are also pooping on students, causing a disruption to learning, student cleanliness, and possibly their mental health, which could cause students’ self esteem to diminish.
“In PE, as I was about to sit down, I saw a bird coming. It swooped down and pooped on Jude’s leg. Everyone was laughing and making fun of him and I felt really bad for him,” Guerrero said.
The birds pooping on students has been a prominent problem in past weeks. The rogue birds have harassed and made the student body more aware of the disruption these birds have caused. Freshman Jude Poyuzina came forward with his perspective on the birds as well.
“When I was standing around with my friends during PE, I felt something fall on my leg. It felt like a raindrop at first. But when I looked at the inside of my knee, I realized it was bird poop. I felt disgusted, and this situation made me more aware of the birds on campus,” Poyuzina said.
The mass amount of birds on campus have made students more aware of their surroundings on campus, which can cause fear in students, making them more likely to dread going to school.
“My biggest fear is that a bird will poop on me. When the birds fly over me, I run to stay under the overheads to try and hide from the birds,” Perez said.