Hello, Boys and Girls!

Sharpshooter has convinced me to tell it to the Pinheads, so here goes:

I have a project under construction  (the New York Athletic Club) in
Manhattan that includes installation of birdproofing netting.  I spec'd 3/4"
stainless steel mesh (to be installed horizontally in a couple of instances),
having been told [after extensive research a couple years back, which I now
cannot recreate] that 2" was going to let sparrows and other little shitty
birds through, while it kept big shitty flying rats (pigeons, to the bird
fanciers among us) the hell out.

The Contractor bid the 3/4" mesh, and now tells me that the 3/4" mesh is only
available woven (rather than welded; he claims that such a small mesh is too
small for the welding machine they use to weld the 2" stuff), so it will be
difficult to keep intact; will weigh (and deflect) much more than the 2"
mesh; and lastly, the only real problem (bird-wise, that is) we have here in
the Center of the Universe is pigeons, and there aint no damn sparrows
anyway.  And, furthermore, if any sparrows show up, he'll dismantle (or
powerwash) their nests away, which evidently has a deterrent effect on the
little bastards.

So, does anybody know (other than Sharpshooter, who claims not to know, but
may be playing possum like he did in the subway those many months ago)
whether our avian problems are indeed limited to pigeons; whether there's a
source for welded small-mesh stainless steel that'll keep all these fuckers
out; whether if I can get what I want, I will have created the world's
nicest, cleanest, tightly-gridded toilet for the pigeons to s(h)it on and
through, where they might be unable to s(h)it comfortably on 2" mesh and
therefore take their business elsewhere; or what the hell I should do?

Your assistance will be much appreciated.

Ralph