>This was not always the case. That people are turned off, I mean. In the 18th Century, King George I of England decreed all pigeon droppings to be property of the Crown. He even put guards at sites where the birds perched to enforce his edict. He was no birdbrain. There was a practical reason for his order: Pigeon manure was used in making gunpowder.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/04/27/in-praise-of-pigeo...
However, who knows if it has since been disproven...