The national press had a field day about the launch of Ken Livingstone’s scheme to use Birds of Prey to disperse the pigeons from Trafalgar Square last year. The papers were full of stories about the Harris hawks but failed to mention why and how this is an effective method. There are many reasons why businesses, councils and industries would want to discourage nuisance birds, they cause unsightly damage and their guano is a health and safety risk that can cause potential slips and falls as well as the possibility of spreading diseases such as Salmonella and E.coli.

John Edwards has been a professional Falconer for 29 years and is still actively working with Birds of Prey in his position as Operations Manager at a nationwide bird and pest control company. John has learnt, through his years of experience, that the most effective and natural approach to disperse birds is by using predator response. “Birds of Prey are a successful method to deter birds as it utilizes the relationship between the predator and prey species and encourages them to move on elsewhere, without harming them”, he said.

Its’ not only pigeons and seagulls that can cause concern for businesses but also ground nesting birds. Their breeding season can cause huge financial losses for construction companies. Lapwings and Skylarks, like many of the ground nesting variety, are attracted to undeveloped sites and nest for five months, from 1st March to 31st July. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, these protected birds are not allowed to be removed or disturbed during this period, leaving construction companies at a standstill. Many organisations hire in help from companies who use techniques such as rockets and digitally recorded warning sounds to deter the birds from the site that unfortunately has a low success rate and is illegal if the birds settle. 

John has found that by using a predator response in the form of hawks, falcons and dogs that this encourages ground nesting birds to choose alternative nesting places. John said: “By introducing hawks and falcons to the site before the birds prepare for breeding will persuade them to move on. This will eliminate the risk of their breeding season being disturbed and from risk of injury from the plant when development starts.”

John also comments that it is crucial that before any work takes place a technician inspects the site, searching for evidence of nesting birds prior to starting operations.

“We have to assess the environmental pressures of the ground nesting birds. An assessment is carried out to find out what the success rate of their breeding is, how long they have been revisiting the site, and if there are any alternative nesting places in the local area where they can be relocated to. From this we can estimate what methods would work and how long it will take for the birds to settle in another area. For example if the birds have been using the site for over 20 years it will take a long time to encourage them elsewhere as most ground nesting birds naturally return to where they are born to breed, therefore this cycle is hard to break” By using this programme of falconry before the breeding season commences it can encourage the birds to roost in a safer area.

Predator response is a method proven by years of scientific research that has been used to both encourage and disperse many varieties of birds. Conservation methods are used in moor lands across the UK, with the declining population of rare birds, concerning councils are implementing rules such as the successful “keeping your dog on the lead” campaign. This was introduced after a scientific study found that numbers of birds in areas where people took their dog plummeted by more than 40 per cent. Researchers also found that the range of bird species in dog-walking areas slumped by 35 per cent, especially among the easy-to-disturb ground-nesting varieties.

In 1999, an out of field study was conducted by the Central Science Laboratory into bird control.  The studies found that the use of falconry is the most effective bird control method second only to netting which usually is only used on existing buildings as a method of prevention. Andy Baxter, Central Science Laboratory commented: “When weather conditions were suitable, almost complete deterrence of birds was achieved”.

By reverting the approach of the council’s rules and implementing the presence of a predator, ground nesting birds will be discouraged to set up home on a turbulent construction site and  successfully breed on the protected moor lands.

Advantage West Midlands employed a professional bird controller last year to deter Skylarks and Lapwings from the i54 site. Ian Jolly, Site Supervisor said: “I have experienced ground nesting birds causing delays on construction sites in the past; It was the case where I was once bitten and twice shy, so an Ecologist from Atkins recommended Falconry. The contract was extremely successful and as an added bonus gave the company a lot of positive PR.  It is difficult to calculate how much the costs would have been had we not hired them, we would of lost in excess of a million pounds in the standing of machinery alone over that six month period.”

Neil Curtis, Area Manager for NBC carried out the work on the project, said: “We used a mixture of methods on the site from flying birds to running dogs in conjunction with varying the times of day, so that the birds didn’t settle, it was really successful and we managed to keep the site clear of ground nesting birds. Advantage West Midlands were really impressed with our work, so much so that they invited us to the opening party, and the Chief Executive John Edwards was keen congratulate Rolf (the Harris Hawk) for all his hard work.”

When using falconry it is necessary to understand which predator is the most effective and also that the birds are non-aggressive and non-hunting birds.

John Edwards comments: “For protected birds we choose the Bird of Prey extremely carefully, at NBC we have a large selections of Falcons and Harris Hawks that all have different temperaments and have been trained in different ways. All our birds are trained to be dependent of the falconer for food, therefore are non hunting birds. The presence of the predator is enough to encourage then to an alternative nesting site. For example if we saw a lion, we wouldn’t hang about long enough to find out whether it will eat us.”

NBC Bird and Pest Solutions

NBC Bird and Pest Solutions is the UK’s only national company to offer a total bird and pest control solutions package provided totally in-house by our own experienced and trained bird controllers and pest technicians.

Recognised as the market leader in UK bird and pest control, NBC is a highly professional company which has been solving nuisance bird and pest problems through a variety of proven methods for more than 15 years.

NBC provides a whole host of services to customers at a variety of locations such as shopping centres, industrial units, railway stations, hospitals, hotels, offices, historic buildings and churches, town halls, airfield and hangers, dockyard, and landfill sites, and we also work with many council and property management agencies. NBC Bird and Pest Solutions pride themselves on offering responsible, ethical and organic solutions that do not threaten other animals in the environment.

For more information about NBC contact http://www.nbcbirdandpest.co.uk, or email enquiries@nbcbirdandpest.co.uk or alternatively call on 0800 169 9646.