Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings collection
Date of this Version
March 1990
Abstract
The use of trained falcons and hawks for dispersing pest birds has been mainly limited to airports in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in North America to prevent bird/aircraft strikes. The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) are the raptors used most often. These trained birds can effectively disperse gulls (Larus spp. ) and a variety of other pest bird species, although other bird-scaring methods are often equally or more effective and economical. Because of the scarcity of trained raptors and handlers, their use is limited to special situations such as airports where the incidence of bird strikes is potentially high and all possible measures must be taken to assure aircraft safety.