The Austrian Parliament needs to close only a few months after reopening following a multi-million renovation as its new glass cupola needs to be repaired after being damaged by young crows dropping stones on it.
In January, the 19th-century building welcomed tens of thousands of visitors on two festive open days following its extensive five-year renovation costing more than EUR 350 million (GBP 300 million).
But now it has emerged that the parliament – situated in the city centre of the federal capital Vienna – must shut between 31st July and 5th August for the repair of the glass dome covering its main assembly hall.
Experts at Microbee – a London-based environmental services provider – explained: “Crows drop stones because they mistakenly believe they are food with a hard shell, and dropping them from a great height will break the shell allowing them to eat the food inside.
They added: “Wild crows have been observed dropping walnuts, crabs and even shellfish onto rocks!”
Already on 15th January, parliament officials were made aware of the damage to one of the dozens of glass panels in a tweet by a netizen.
‘The Apex Archive’ presumably took the photo during a visit on one of the open days after the parliament’s reopening.
The Twitter user: “Dear construction directorate of the Austrian Parliament, may I make you aware of the glass cupola’s technical detail? I took the picture on 14th January. It appears to have cracked already.”
Parliament officials confirmed on 26th July that there would be no guided tours during the first week of August.
A spokesperson for the parliament said an ornithologist inspected the damage.
The parliament official explained: “We were informed that this is typical behaviour of young crows. We must brace for more of the same.“
Four glass panels have been affected, the spokesman confirmed, adding that spanning a net across the cupola was one of the measures considered to prevent further damage.
In the past years, several MPs reportedly assumed that small cracks on their cars’ windscreens had been caused by political activists – before being told by parliament officials consulting ornithologists that birds were to blame.
The Nationalrat assembly’s spectacular glass cupola has been praised as a “sign of transparency” in Austrian politics by MPs and government representatives.
In 2017, MPs agreed on a renovation budget of EUR 352 million (GBP 302 million). A further EUR 51 million (GBP 44 million) were dedicated to costs caused by the relocation of delegates and office staff to various buildings in the parliament’s vicinity.
Restoration measures were initially scheduled to be finished by 2020.
The two chambers of the Austrian parliament – the Nationalrat and the Bundesrat – return from their summer break on 12th September.
The parliament building was constructed between 1874 and 1883. Danish-Austrian architect Theophil von Hansen masterminded the project.
Located on Vienna’s Ringstrasse boulevard not far from the Burgtheater, the City Hall and the State Opera, the neoclassicist building is one of Vienna’s main attractions.
At the beginning of this year, almost 30,000 people took the opportunity to visit the renovated assembly halls as well as various offices which are normally not open to the public.
The free-of-charge opportunity caused long queues and waiting times of several hours on both of the festive open days in January.
Ornithologists believe that hooded crows (Corvus cornix) dropped the small stones which damaged the parliament’s glass panels
The Eurasian species can be found across Northern, Eastern and Southeastern Europe as well as in parts of the Middle East.
According to environmentalists at the wildlife organisation Portland Audubon in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, crows may be attracted to urban areas due to lower pressure from their predators, ambient temperatures and vast food supplies.
Austrian netizens were astonished that the national parliament must close for repairs.
‘Oho’ claimed: “The intelligent birds are sick of the babbling.”
‘Sofie emms’ said: “Strange world. They usually throw nuts on the pavement. Maybe they are angered by delegates’ policies.”
‘Onkeleduard’ asked: “Why not shoot them? They are way too many in Vienna anyway.”
‘Serkalo’ commented: “Ever since being declared a protected species, crows have become a pest. How stupid to build a glass dome at one of the most important planes in the country which apparently can’t stand birds dropping small stones!”
‘Wilbert Kolhanek’ argued: “The birds throwing stones onto the glass cupola aren’t the problem of taxpayers – it’s imbeciles sitting beneath it.”
‘Spectator’: “A glass roof damaged by a few tiny pebbles is another prime example of a botched job and a waste of taxes.”
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Story By: Thomas Hochwarter, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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