Within the next couple of months, OvoControl P will be placed in kibble in new rooftop feeders in Hollywood, Calif. The substance interferes with egg development is considered a human way to lower the birthrate of the wild birds.

OvoControl P has been registered with the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Pigeons pose a problem on a long-planned $80,000 landscape project for the traffic island at Argyle Avenue and Yucca Street, which many residents consider a gateway to the neighborhood, according to members of the association.

Pigeons breed year-round and can produce four or five broods a year. The pilot program is expected to show results within a year and is the first of its kind to take place in the state.

Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Association, the group leading the effort to try the new contraceptive, said: ?EUR??,,????'??We think we?EUR??,,????'???ve got a good solution to a bad situation. Cleaning up after the pigeons has become unmanageable and this could be the answer.?EUR??,,????'??

Estimates suggest that about 5,000 pigeons live in the Hollywood area and their rising numbers have been partially blamed on the people who feed them.

Dodson added that the area?EUR??,,????'???s pigeon population is expected to shrink by at least half by 2012.