Pigeons were controversially shot down in the historic city of Vittoriosa on Thursday afternoon in an attempt by the council to control the rising pigeon population.

The cull by around five men carrying airguns was carried out without much fanfare and despite the fact that the council was forced to back down last year following widespread criticism.

Mayor John Boxall was seen at one point urging Times of Malta's photographer to stop taking pictures of the controversial practice. He also asked an Asian film crew who were in the area to stop filming.

Italian tourists who happened to be in the area expressed disgust at the operation.

The government had promised help to reduce the pigeon population in the locality through other means.

The mayor had said last year that the large number of wild pigeons in the city was unbearable, and their excrement could be found everywhere.

Residents, he had said, had been trying to shoo away pigeons by hanging plastic bags and pieces of acrylic sheets on their roofs.

Read: Culling pigeons ‘not effective solution’

Pigeons have also been culled in other localities, including in Cospicua, St Julian's, Sliema and Balzan.

But according to research by the University of Basel in Switzerland, the lethal control of pigeons, far from reducing flock size, could actually increase the flock size in the medium to long-term.

Within a matter of weeks following a culling operation, pigeon numbers would have risen back up to the pre-cull level and in many cases exceeded it. This was because culling had the effect of rejuvenating the flock by removing older non-breeding birds and leaving the prolifically breeding juvenile birds in place.