Using birds to clear birds

Guild of Master Craftsmen members East Riding Pest Control was set up after being approached by the biggest well known pest control company in the UK to do work for them. They specialise in the clearance of nuisance birds.

They use birds of prey as an effective and environmentally friendly way of controlling the behavioural patterns of species such as pigeons, gulls, starlings and sparrows.

The company has many years of experience in all aspects of avian control and regard them as leaders in this specialist field.

The birds they fly are captive bred in the UK and they each have current and relevant DEFRA paperwork to abide with current UK laws.

They tend to use two types of bird. The Harris Hawk, native to South America, are designed to fly in close country therefore adapting well to build up areas such as factory units, etc. They are a very sociable bird living in family packs in the wild and this sociable nature transfers in captivity.

Saker Falcons are native to Russia and Central Europe and are larger than our native peregrine. They are hand reared from a few days old. They use hand reared and not parent reared birds, as from a few days old they have them on sites that they may be working when they are older. This practice of having the baby birds on sites where there is heavy plant working and the public, means that they are completely relaxed and happy in the working site environment.

Birds of prey are used as a deterrent only, they do not actually catch any of the nuisance birds. The birds of prey need to be flown regularly over the site, this ‘installs’ into the pest bird that this is a falcons/hawks territory, and therefore not a safe place for them to roost or colonise.

This practice tends to be used in areas that are very much in front of the public to ease their concerns, where trapping or bird proofing may not work or be suitable, i.e. listed buildings, stadiums, city centres.

All the company’s pest control technicians are fully trained experienced falconers, with an extensive knowledge and understanding of pest birds, therefore having maximum impact when clearing a site.


For more information visit http://www.eastridingpestcontrol.co.uk/