The arrival of Lizzie Vogel at the main entrance of the British Library in London with a metal box on wheels goes unnoticed by the many visitors. But when she opens the box door and Weatherby comes out to carefully perch on her trainer’s gloved hand, the stares begin. “Is it a hawk?” the most curious ask again and again. “No, it’s a red-black hawk,” Vogel answers patiently.
The also called Harris’s eagle, an elegant bird of prey with a dark color that is almost black, except for its reddish-brown shoulders and legs, comes twice a week to the iconic building in the British capital. Its objective is to disperse the settlement of pigeons that was beginning to damage this building considered – along with an exclusive 2.5% of the country’s buildings that includes Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament – of exceptional interest for its extraordinary architecture and historical importance. Although it is a modern construction (it was inaugurated in 1998) it is still the largest British public building erected in the 20th century, with an area of 120,000 m2.
Pigeon droppings contain corrosive acids that can cause irreversible damage to the surface of buildings. For this reason, the British Library decided to act quickly against a small group of about 20 pigeons, mostly domestic, and some wood pigeons, and prevent it from becoming a large settlement, since the rock pigeon, the urban one, (Columba livia) can have up to four or five clutches a year.
“Pigeons nest almost all year round and over time they cause damage to the structure of the building and in outdoor spaces they create a serious slip hazard. When they fall on the terrace or in the plaza they also cause a hygiene problem, which is a concern for the library, since we strive to ensure that the public enjoys their visit and use of the building without obstacles,” says a representative of the Library. British. “We are taking care of the building for future generations. We can see the pigeons in nearby buildings, the birds of prey only disperse them from the library.”
Shopping centres, schools, apartment blocks, research institutes… more and more London buildings are turning to falconry to scare away pigeons. The red-and-black eagles patrol to Trafalgar Square, where feeding the birds has also been prohibited.
In the two hours of the routine visit witnessed, only one pigeon, a pair of defiant seagulls and two or three crows have dared to land in the enormous front yard or on one of the building’s roofs, but they soon leave. “I make Weatherby fly, and he settles on his favorite spots, and if there is a pigeon on a roof, I direct him to that place. Their mere presence is enough to keep the birds at a distance,” explains Vogel. There are also no remains of food, the main attraction for birds.
Ornithologist David Darrell-Lambert, author of the book on bird sightings in London, Birdwatching Londonassures that we have created a problem for ourselves and for the birds, mainly for the seagulls. “These birds try to take away our snack because we have trained them by giving them food before and we have turned them into scavengers. But some of these gulls are long-distance migratory birds, they come from Russia and Eastern Europe to spend the winter and they need nutritious food for the long journey, so feeding them bread is a problem.” Additionally, some of these birds, such as the kittiwake or herring gull, are in danger of extinction, and if they are nesting they should not be disturbed. Regarding the urban pigeon, he agrees that droppings can be a problem and in addition to not feeding them, it is necessary to discourage them. People with compromised immune systems are at risk of contracting diseases related to pigeons and their droppings, but this is quite rare.
Vogel began operating four months ago with daily visits for two weeks. “This measure has a great impact, the Harris’s eagle has a very constant presence and the pigeons perceive that there is now a new owner of the territory,” he says. Afterwards, the visits are reduced to two per week at different times of the day and the falconer claims to have noticed an “enormous improvement.” But the maintenance work is permanent because if the bird of prey disappears, the pigeons return. “On the few occasions when we have done one-off work, the situation has worsened again,” says Vogel. It remains to be seen if in summer, with the restaurant on the top floor terrace full of diners, the situation worsens.
Falconry is an ancient practice that consists of hunting with trained birds of prey, mainly falcons, hawks, eagles and red-black hawks. However, Vogel assures that his company, London Falconry, avoids hunting at all costs when carrying out pest control. “If I see that my eaglets are too close to the pigeons I call them,” he says. To do this, he has a small saddlebag tied to his waist with pieces of various meat: rabbit, rat, quail and chicken… without deboning, skinning or plucking so that the diet is as similar as possible to what they would hunt in the wild. Like any animal, Weatherby tries to achieve results with as little effort as possible. “Between having to capture and kill the pigeon before eating it or returning to my side where guaranteed food awaits you, you will choose the easier option, always.”
It is considered by many to be the most natural method to solve the problem, based on the relationship between predator and prey that occurs in nature. However, the practice is not without controversy. The people who come to talk to the falconer throughout the morning praise the function she performs. On the other hand, there have been some complaints on social networks. Animal defenders remember that pigeons were wild until we domesticated them thousands of years ago, they saved lives during the world wars and now that we don’t need them we treat them like a pest.
Darrell-Lambert considers falconry “the easiest method of consistently deterring birds from a location. Other methods, such as netting, cause birds to become trapped and suffer an inhumane death. Using poison will likely cause death to other birds as well. Harris’s eagles do not hunt much, I have never seen them hunt anything, they simply disperse the pigeons, which means they transfer the problem to another place, but if they go to a space where there are no people nothing happens. It is their proximity to us that causes us a problem,” he says.
For Vogel, this practice is without a doubt the most humane and effective method: “The predator sends a message and the pigeons are not hurt. The other options would be to shoot them or poison them, so this is the way to go. If you killed one, others would continue to come.”
The reasons why this specific bird of prey is used are several. Their ability to maneuver in the air makes them ideal for moving around the urban environment. They are easy to train. “These animals hunt in packs and see the trainer as part of their family. They hunt with us and receive many rewards,” says Vogel. She is proud of the bond she has established with her bird since she bought it from a breeder when she was four months old. Weatherby is now two years old and in captivity could live more than 20, twice as long as in the wild.
On one of his flights, Weatherby returns with a small blood stain on his paw. Vogel takes a bottle of antiseptic cream from another saddlebag containing a first aid kit and applies it to prevent possible infection. In extreme cases, infected wounds caused by prey or a sharp surface can be life-threatening to the predator. Therefore, before starting a new job, the dangers of the building, especially barbed wire and windows, are assessed, and before each visit quick confirmations are made in case anything has changed since the previous visit. “Animal welfare is my number one priority when I am at work. Of course, sometimes accidents happen. Some buildings have sharp surfaces and you can’t predict where the bird is going to stop,” the falconer acknowledges.
Detractors of this practice consider the use of a predator not native to the British Isles – the Harris’s eagle comes from the American continent – very unnatural. At the very least, they say, the task of natural selection should be left to the peregrine falcon. But this is already happening.
The ornithologist does not believe that using red-black hawks or hawks is a problem. “The bird returns to its trainer after scaring the other birds present in the area.” Yes, he would be concerned if the eggs of birds of prey were being stolen from wild nests, “but it is prohibited by law and falconers have to have proof of the origin – breeder – of their birds,” he explains.
Vogel reports seeing a peregrine falcon flying over the library and suspects it must have a nest nearby. London is, along with New York, the city with the largest populations of urban peregrine falcons. Another example of a wild species adapted to the artificial environment of the city, the habitat where it finds the most food: pigeons.
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