Buy Germ Clear™ Bird Droppings Disinfectant Cleaning Spray to help safely clean away bird dropping, excrement, faeces and areas dirtied by birds that have been nesting or roosting.
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Table of Contents
Pigeon Guano
Cleaning Equipment
Quick Tip
Before removing pigeon droppings first soak the affected area with water to prevent the creation of dust whilst cleaning the droppings up. If you are unable to soak the droppings to eliminate the dust then simply wear a dust mask. Also did you know pigeon droppings are a great fertiliser, why not use them on your garden?Cleaning Pigeon Droppings - Overview
This guide on dealing with pigeon droppings has been written for the benefit of people who do not clean up pigeon droppings for a living such as pest control officers or people who might keep pigeons as a hobby. These people are likely to come into contact with dry droppings on an almost daily basis and will probably want to carry out a more extensive risk assessment.
Cleaning of droppings, in a bird control context, is the removal of bird guano (bird excrement) from the exterior of a building prior to the installation of deterrents, or the removal of pigeon droppings from the interior of a building following the exclusion of pigeons. In both cases it is important to remove guano, but for different reasons.
When installing deterrents on the exterior of a building it is critically important to ensure that all areas are cleaned thoroughly prior to the installation of anti-perching products to ensure that the products will adhere to the surface upon which they are installed. When excluding pigeons from a roof void or similar internal area of a building it is important to remove any build-up of pigeon guano to stop smells and reduce the potential for insect-related problems for occupants. Although some commercial contractors will offer the client cleaning works on the basis that guano can be a health hazard, in reality cleaning is for aesthetic and practical reasons rather than to control disease.Much is made of the potential to contract a disease from contact with pigeon droppings, but this is often over exaggerated and the likelihood of a human being contracting a disease from contact with pigeons or their excrement is very low and certainly no higher than having contact with your cat. In the main it is the media that have perpetuated this hype for profit. The media needs to sell newspapers and the pest control industry needs to sell its services. In both cases the public is sometimes misled. Most experts are of the opinion that human contact with pigeons and/or their excrement is no more harmful than contact with a caged bird or any other family pet. The only way in which pigeon guano can usually have a detrimental effect on human health is where an individual who has a pre-existing respiratory condition comes into contact with very well dried guano. In these cases it is possible that the inhalation of dust, created when well-dried guano are disturbed, may irritate the bronchial passages. In almost every situation 'dampening down' the droppings with water before the commencement of cleaning will prevent the creation of dust. If you are unable to soak the droppings to eliminate the dust then simply wear a dust mask.
Excessive Soiling
from Roosting
Pigeons
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So in what circumstances should bird droppings be removed and is it necessary to instruct a specialist contractor to undertake these works? Although bird guano cannot usually be considered to be a health risk in anything other than extreme cases it can severely compromise the aesthetics of a building and large quantities of well-dried guano in, for example, a roof void can cause smells and attract insects. It is always wise, therefore, to remove guano, whether it is random soiling on the exterior of a building or exists in large quantities within a building. In all but exceptional circumstances guano can be removed and disposed of by the property owner rather than requiring the services of a specialist contractor. Common sense combined with a basic health and safety risk assessment is all that is required prior to undertaking the majority of cleaning operations. There will, of course, be instances where the scale of the problem is beyond the capability of an individual and in these circumstances a specialist cleaning company would be the only option. A specialist cleaning company would normally be called in for the clearance of guano in large-scale roosts that have been used for many years. In these circumstances it may even be necessary to use breathing apparatus if there are large quantities of well-dried guano present.As the two most common guano-related problems will require a different approach we will deal with each problem separately:
Cleaning External Areas of Pigeon Droppings
The most common guano-related problem is the soiling of external areas of a building as a result of overnight roosting (and breeding) and/or daytime perching (where pigeons are using a building as a vantage point to exploit a food source). Of the two problems, overnight roosting/breeding problems are the most serious, normally resulting in much larger quantities of pigeon droppings being present than with daytime perching. This is because when pigeons are exploiting a food source during the daytime they are constantly on the move, checking each of their numerous feeding sites and never spending long on one site. When the birds are roosting, however, they are static for anything up to 16 hours depending on the time of year. In the summer months they may only be in their roosting sites for 8-10 hours, but in winter it can be as long as 16 hours and in some cases even longer.
The type of soiling also varies depending on whether it is a result of daytime perching or overnight roosting/breeding. Soiling resulting from daytime perching tends to be random and spread over quite a large area, although on buildings that overlook well-used bird feeding sites guano-related problems can be quite extreme. Soiling from overnight roosting/breeding tends to be found in large piles directly below the perches that the birds have been occupying throughout the night. Cleaning pigeon droppings from a roosting site tends to be easier than cleaning guano resulting from daytime perching as it is generally found in one or more specific areas and in quantity. It is also the case that if pigeon droppings is being removed from a roosting area prior to the installation of anti-perching products it will be considerably easier to identify areas in which to install the products based on the location of the guano. It is quite possible for one building to experience both daytime perching and overnight roosting/breeding problems, but this is less common. In most cases pigeons will not roost and feed on the same site unless open-ended food sources and optimum roosting/breeding opportunities exist.
Apart from aesthetics, the main reason that pigeon droppings must be removed, and the area thoroughly cleaned, is to prepare surfaces for the installation of anti-perching products. In most cases property owners will have been alerted to the fact that they have pigeons perching on their property as a result of soiling-related issues on the fascia of the building. Once pigeon occupancy problems have been identified the next logical step is to protect those areas with deterrents. In these circumstances a pest control contractor will normally be called in to advise, but a growing number of property owners are now undertaking their own pigeon control works courtesy of the availability of both information and products via the internet. Many property owners assume that by calling in a specialist contractor they will be offered a high-quality service, but this is not always the case. Some contractors completely fail to undertake any cleaning works prior to the installation of anti-perching products. Thorough cleaning works must be undertaken prior to installing anti-perching products, particularly where products such as anti-roosting spikes are concerned, which are normally fixed to the surface to be protected by silicone gel.Anti-Roosting
Spike Installation
Once a health and safety risk assessment has been carried out, and the appropriate health and safety equipment and access equipment has been purchased or leased, the areas to be cleaned must be thoroughly inspected. It may be necessary to protect all areas that have the potential to be used for the purpose of perching as once the pigeons have been displaced from their existing perches they will very probably just move to an adjacent area on the same building. If anti-perching products are to be installed following cleaning works, these products must also be available on site with all the necessary fixings, such as silicone gel if anti-roosting spikes are to be used. The installation of deterrents should take place as soon as all the surfaces have been cleaned and thoroughly prepared.
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Pigeon Guano from
Overnight Roosting
It is an offence to interfere with a nest or its contents and therefore, before taking any action to remove a nest, with or without eggs or chicks, permission must be sought from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Once the relevant permission has been sought and given the nest and contents can be removed. If there are live squabs in the nest a wildlife rehabilitator should be contacted with a view to handing over the young birds to be hand reared. This service will be free of charge. A national list of wildlife rehabilitators, in a county-by-county format, can be found by clicking on the following link: http://www.veggies.org.uk/acd/europe/uk/rescue/rescue.htm
Once access equipment and protective clothing has been sourced, a health and safety assessment carried out and once all nests have been removed cleaning works can begin. There are many cleaning products available that are designed for use with pigeon droppings, but whether they are actually needed is questionable. There are two specific types of cleaning solutions used to clean pigeon excrement: branded ornithological disinfectants that are designed to kill bacteria and organisms and simple cleaning agentsthat are just designed to clean. The conventional non-bacterial cleaning agents are worthless and can be replaced with a strong household cleaning agent at a fraction of the price. Bacterial cleaning agents can be useful but they are unlikely to make any difference when used to clean guano in external areas.
The only exception to this rule would be in situations where large quantities of well-dried pigeon droppings exist in external covered areas close to residential accommodation. Wet pigeon guano presents no risks whatsoever to human health unless it is ingested or found on pathways where it could cause a slip hazard. The main application for bacterial cleaning agents, therefore, would be for use in internal areas and following the removal of large quantities of pigeon droppings. For the majority of applications a bucket of hot soapy water with a splash of household disinfectant makes an ideal cleaning solution for use after the removal of guano but for further peace of mind you could use Germ Clear™ Bird Droppings Disinfectant cleaning spray.
Cleaning pigeon droppings is no different to any other type of cleaning work in external areas and large areas can be cleaned extremely rapidly providing the right equipment is to hand. For the removal of well-dried guano from windowsills, ledges and architectural features a paint scraper is an ideal tool. It may be helpful to spray the guano with water prior to removal as this will not only soften the guano and make it easier to remove but will also reduce the amount of dust created when the guano is disturbed. Once all the pigeon droppings have been removed from the surface it can simply be washed down with a scrubbing brush and hot water. If installing deterrents in the area subsequent to cleaning, special attention must be paid to removing all guano, debris and lichen. Once the area has been thoroughly cleaned it must be allowed to dry completely before installing deterrents. Deterrents should be installed as soon as the surface has dried to ensure that no further soiling takes place.
The most commonly asked question when removing pigeon guano from a site is “what happens to it?” Many commercial cleaning companies will suggest that pigeon droppings is classified as hazardous waste and must be disposed of accordingly, but this is not the case. The Environment Agency has confirmed that small quantities of pigeon guano can safely be disposed of in a domestic dustbin/wheelie bin or in the commercial equivalent. Small quantities of guano can also be disposed of, by the property owner, at a council-run Tidy Tip facility. The Environment Agency also confirm that large quantities of guano can be disposed of in a standard skip, providing that the company used is an ‘Authorised Waste Carrier’. Virtually every company renting skips in the UK is an Authorised Waste Carrier. When the skip is taken away the property owner will fill in a ‘Transfer Note’, which asks for details of the quantity of waste being removed, the type of waste and the date. The information provided on this form will direct the driver to dispose of the waste at an authorised facility. The Environment Agency can be contacted on 08708 506 506 or by visiting the Environment Agency website at the following address: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/.
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Probably the easiest method of disposing of pigeon guano is to put it on your garden. Pigeon guano is renowned for being the optimum fertiliser for gardens and vegetable crops. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries pigeon guano was a highly prized commodity, not only because it is a superb fertiliser but also because it contains saltpetre, an essential ingredient of gunpowder. In fact pigeon droppings were so highly prized that armed guards were placed outside dovecote facilities (large commercial-sized pigeon houses) to prevent the theft of it!
Further information on the identification of a pigeon-related problem and how to deal with it is available in a document called DIY controls that can be found via the left-hand margin on the home page or by clicking here.
It may also be helpful to read the Cleaning and Sanitising product/service review, which can be found in the ‘Product Reviews’ section or clicking here. This document will provide a basic overview of the various products and cleaning agents available for use with guano.
Cleaning Internal Areas of Pigeon Droppings
The term ‘internal areas’, in the context of this document, refers to any building, derelict or occupied, commercial or residential that has pigeons or other birds roosting and/or breeding within it. The roof void is one of the most commonly used internal areas by pigeons for the purpose of here. This might be an attic space in a domestic residence or a large void within the roof of an industrial building. In both cases pigeons are drawn to roof voids because they are dry, secluded areas where human presence is rare. Pigeons can be found in huge numbers in roof voids, even in occupied homes and buildings, without the owner ever being aware that they are there. In many residential properties pigeons will exploit a slipped roof tile to gain access to a roof void and if there is no internal access to the roof void from within the property it is possible that birds may roost and breed unnoticed for many years.
It is in derelict buildings or industrial units that large flocks of roosting pigeons are normally found. In some cases the volume of excrement produced as a result of years of roosting and breeding activity will be so great as to actually bring the internal floors down within the building. Incredibly, the last time the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle was accessed for the purposes of removing pigeon guano a total of 12 tons of guano was removed, all through one small manhole cover and in plastic sacks! This is, of course, an extreme example, but nonetheless it demonstrates just how entrenched guano-related problems can become if they are ignored or if they go unnoticed.Disposable Overalls for
Guano Cleaning
Protective Clothing
job of this nature is virtually nil. A risk assessment will confirm what level of protection is required and the options range from a basic paper face mask through to a full face mask with breathing apparatus. It may be helpful to read the ‘Cleaning and Sanitising’ product/service review, which can be found in the ‘Product Reviews’ section or clicking this link. This document will provide a basic overview of the types of protective clothing (and cleaning products) available for this type of work.As well as a face mask, a full body disposable suit with hood will be required. Rubber gloves should be worn at all times and hands should be washed thoroughly before eating or drinking, thereby requiring that washing facilities are available on-site. Goggles are a sensible precaution and a good pair of boots or wellingtons is essential. When working in enclosed spaces (particularly in roof voids) and during the summer months, temperatures can be extreme and therefore regular rest breaks should be taken as exhaustion can set in very quickly, particularly when wearing protective clothing.Nitrile Rubber Gloves
Before starting cleaning works a detailed site inspection must be undertaken to highlight any potential dangers for workers (particularly when working in derelict buildings) and to establish whether there are any nests with pigeon squabs in situ. In a large-scale roost it is almost certain that there will be. Nests will normally be found on the floor and rarely at height so it is important to take care when walking the site for the purpose of assessing it. Once all the nests with dependent young have been identified a wildlife rehabilitator should be contacted with a view to handing over all dependent birds for hand rearing. For large sites with more than a handful of nests, wildlife groups will normally attend the site prior to guano removal operations commencing and remove all the dependent birds at that time. The cleaning operation will then be able to continue without interruption. It should3-Day Old
Pigeon Squab
It is an offence to interfere with a nest or its contents and therefore, before taking any action to remove a nest, with or without eggs or chicks, permission must be sought from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Once the relevant permission has been sought and given nests and contents can be removed. A national list of wildlife rehabilitators, in a county-by-county format, can be found by clicking on the following link: http://www.veggies.org.uk/acd/europe/uk/rescue/rescue.htm.
The actual process of clearing the pigeon droppings just requires hard work and in large-scale internal roosts the best tool is a shovel. Prior to starting to remove the guano a fine jet of water should be sprayed over it in an effort to reduce the dust created when it is disturbed. It can then be more safely removed. Guano should be bagged or wheelbarrowed to a skip and then arrangements should be made to dispose of it via an authorised waste carrier, assuming that there are sufficiently large quantities. Alternatively, if clearing a small amount of guano from a residential attic it can be safely disposed of in a dustbin or wheelie bin or even on a garden or allotment. Guano is a superb fertiliser.
Once the guano has been completely removed the area should be cleaned with hot soapy water and disinfectant or with Germ Clear™ Bird Droppings Disinfectant cleaning spray which is designed to kill any bacteria and organisms that may be present.
Further information on the identification of a problem and how to deal with it is available in a document called DIY controls that can be found via the left-hand margin on the home page or by clicking the following here.
It may also be helpful to read the Cleaning and Sanitising product/service review, which can be found in the ‘Product Reviews’ section or clicking here. This document will provide a basic overview of the various products and cleaning agents available for use with guano.
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Overview
The use of hawks and falcons to remove pigeons and gulls is becoming ever more popular in the UK with raptor-specific companies starting to compete with conventional pest control services for business. The use of a raptor as a pigeon removal option is commonly marketed as a ‘green’ and ‘natural’ method of control that is ‘humane’ and ‘in tune with nature’. It should be fully understood that flying a raptor as a method of control is not a non-lethal method of control, nor is it ‘humane’. Raptors cannot be trained not to kill the target species and when they do catch a bird the resultant spectacle of the raptor tearing the prey to pieces cannot, under any circumstances, be perceived as being ‘humane’. It is also the case that a majority of the raptors that are used for the purpose of pigeon removal are not the natural predator of the target species and therefore this method of control cannot be considered to be ‘natural’ or ‘in tune with nature’ either.Cannot Delete Game Pigeon App
Flying a raptor as a method of pigeon removal has its roots in falconry where a hawk or falcon is trained to kill animals or other birds, normally for pleasure or for sport. Falconry is considered to be a blood-sport and subsequently, those companies that offer falconry services are providing their client base with a highly controversial service that is certainly not proven to be an effective method of bird control. For use as part of a bird scaring system on landfill sites or for airport runways the service may have some value, but in respect of urban applications the use of a raptor to remove pigeons is not only expensive but can be the source of highly negative publicity for the client. If a raptor goes ‘feral’ during a control operation and catches and kills a pigeon or gull in front of staff or onlookers the negative publicity that is inevitably generated can be extremely damaging for the client. Raptors do not necessarily kill their prey immediately and therefore the prey can remain alive for anything up to 10 or 15 minutes whilst the raptor eats the bird alive.
Harris Hawk on Perch
The use of raptors within the pigeon removal sector has marked a change for an industry that is often perceived as shying away from publicity, good or bad, in favour of a more discreet approach to the issue of bird control. For decades commercial bird control has involved extensive and excessive use of lethal controls (culling) in an effort to resolve entrenched bird-related problems. Scientific research*, however, has found that all forms of lethal control are not only ineffective but also deeply unpopular with the general public. As a result, the pest control industry has maintained a low profile. With the introduction of raptor-based controls over the last 10 years, however, the image of the industry has begun to change with pest control companies starting to talk publicly about the controls they use and particularly those controls that they suggest are ‘green’.Cannot Delete Game Pigeon Games
The use of hawks or falcons to disperse birds is not a new method of control in the bird control sector with hawks historically being used to disperse gulls and other birds from waste disposal sites, landfill sites and airports for many years. Their use in urban environments for the control of pigeons and gulls, however, has been less common. The principle of using a raptor to remove pigeons in urban applications is to visit a site 2 to 3 times a week initially and fly the raptor for 1-3 hours. Providers of the service suggest that as the weeks and months go by, visits will be reduced based on the fact that the raptor has created a ‘territory’ into which the target species will learn not to enter. The effectiveness of the service, however, depends upon the ability of the raptor to instil sufficient fear in the target species to ensure that the flock deserts its feeding or roosting site. Where the removal of pigeons and gulls is concerned, this is highly unlikely to happen. It is also the case that flying a raptor cannot be undertaken in poor weather conditions, a further limitation for this control option.
Most companies offering this service also provide conventional pest control services and often recommend that a cull will be necessary, prior to flying a raptor, in order to reduce bird numbers so that the raptor will be more effective as a deterrent. Most providers of the service also suggest that raptors can be an extremely effective and cost-effective method of control providing that the client is prepared to continue using the service for extended periods. If flying a raptor as a bird scarer is effective then why would the client need to invest in a culling programme? The reality is that most experts within the pest control industry believe that flying a raptor as a method of control is simply a gimmick and has little or no effect as a stand-alone method of control. Where a cull is recommended prior to the use of a raptor, the client sees a reduction in bird numbers and assumes that this reduction is as a result of the raptor being effective when in reality it is as a result of the cull. The client then continues to use the service until bird numbers rise back to the pre-cull figure (which they invariably do) and only then is the effectiveness of the service brought into question.Peregrine Falcon
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Another reason why flying a raptor as a method of control is less than effective as a pigeon removal option is due to the species of hawk or falcon commonly used. The natural predator of the pigeon, for example, is the peregrine falcon, a bird that can achieve speeds of up to 200 miles per hour in a dive and one of the few birds that has the speed and the manoeuvrability to outpace and catch a pigeon in flight. The peregrine falcon is rarely if ever used for this purpose in the bird control sector, with the harris hawk being the most commonly used raptor for pigeon removal work. The harris hawk is relatively slow in flight, much slower than the feral pigeon and therefore the pigeon does not view the harris hawk as a threat, whereas the peregrine falcon would be perceived as the ultimate threat. The fact that the harris hawk is not the natural predator of the pigeon and is not a native species in the UK, combined with the fact that the harris hawk is unlikely to catch a pigeon in flight, renders this species a poor choice where scaring pigeons is concerned. Pigeons are highly intelligent birds and they will never be deterred from their feeding and breeding sites due to the presence of a harris hawk for a few hours a week. A raptor may have the effect of removing pigeons from their existing roosts and perching areas when the bird is first introduced, but pigeons quickly realise that there is little threat and although they will be wary of the raptor, they will not move far from their feeding sites. As soon as the raptor has left the site the pigeons will immediately return to their perches and the client is left with no protection. For a raptor to have any effect on a feeding flock of pigeons the bird would have to be on-site 24 hours a day and even then, the presence of the hawk would not be enough to deter pigeons from exploiting a regular food source. In the wild, hawks only kill to eat and feed their young, not for pleasure, so once the bird has made a kill it is highly unlikely that the bird will to continue to work and it is also likely that the target species will be aware of this.Raptor control services are now being marketed more strongly as a means of scaring roof nesting gulls from buildings and residential dwellings in urban areas. The use of a raptor to scare gulls is even less effective than the use of a harris hawk to remove pigeons. This is because hawks and falcons are commonly ‘mobbed’ by gulls and other large birds such as corvids (crow family) when they fly too close to feeding or breeding areas. Gulls and other large birds have little fear of predators such as hawks and falcons other than when they have young and then their response is likely to be more, not less, aggressive toward the predators. Hawks and falcons have little or no effect on roof nesting gulls outside the breeding period and during the breeding period, when gulls can be a serious problem for property owners, they will be quickly chased away by breeding gulls rendering them completely ineffective as a control option.
Harris Hawk About to Kill
As with all scaring techniques and devices, the target species will quickly habituate to the use of a raptor, whether or not the raptor is the natural predator of the species concerned. Therefore at best, the raptor option can only be seen to be appropriate as part of a wider control system. For landfill sites and airport runways where multiple scaring techniques are commonly used, the raptor may be effective up to a point. For urban applications where scaring techniques are rarely used due to the potential for human disturbance, anti-perching products would be a far more appropriate option rather than the use of a raptor or any other scaring device. Raptors are only as good as their handlers and a poorly trained bird will do little work and as a result will pose little or no threat to the target species. Even well trained birds will sometimes fly away and sit on a building some distance from the client site (which the raptor is supposed to be protecting), in some cases taking hours for the bird to return to the handler. Hawks and falcons can be trained up to a point, but when in flight or away from their handler their natural instincts take over and the handler can do little or nothing if the bird chooses to attack a protected species of bird or sit and refuse to fly. The client still pays for the service, however, whether the hawk works or not.Negative publicity has dogged the use of raptors in the pigeon removal sector with barbaric spectacles such as the hawk handlers in Trafalgar Square ‘throwing’ their birds at juvenile, sick and injured pigeons in front of children and visitors to London constantly making the headlines. This type of macabre sight, where a hawk tears a live pigeon to bits as tourists look on, is anything but ‘green’ and ‘in tune with nature’ and as such cannot be taken seriously as a pigeon removal option. Similarlly, the use of a raptor by Nottingham City Council in 1999 attracted extremely negative publicity for the Authority. The Council brought the hawk in for a 2 month contract costing ratepayers £5000, in an effort to remove pigeons from Nottingham city centre. The hawk had no effect whatsoever on the pigeon population, but was the subject of a TV documentary as a result of the fact that the bird was tearing pigeons to pieces in front of the general public in broad daylight. The negative publicity generated was extremely damaging for Nottingham City Council and the £5000 of public money spent on the programme could clearly have been put to better use.
The use of a raptor for the purposes of pigeon removal is a bandwagon that many falconers and enthusiasts are jumping on and yet in most cases, these individuals know little or nothing about bird control. Even renowned falconry experts such as Jemima Parry-Jones are highly critical of the use of raptors for the purposes of bird control, in the main due to the potential for injury to the raptor. The use of a raptor may appear to be a humane and natural bird control option but in reality it is very far from that. Handlers require no training in either pest control or falconry in order to offer their services as raptor-specific bird control experts and yet the novelty of this method of control has ensured that the marketplace is overflowing with experts making astonishing claims about the effectiveness of the service that they offer. Falconry may have been popular in the middle ages but it is clearly not perceived as being an appropriate nor politically correct means of controlling and killing pest birds in the 21st century.DEFRA’s view:
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the UK’s Government body that oversees the Wildlife and Countryside Act and produces legislation to which the pest control industry must adhere. The following information is taken from a document provided on DEFRA website entitled: ‘Review of international research regarding the effectiveness of auditory bird scaring techniques and potential alternatives’. By J Bishop, H McKay, D Parrott and J Allan.
“The success of this method of bird control is based on the fact that many birds have a natural fear of falcons and hawks as predators, so their presence in the area encourages problem species to disperse. The natural reaction of most prey species is to form a flock and attempt to fly above the falcon. If this fails, they will attempt to fly for cover and leave the area (Transport Canada, undated).”
“The species of falcons and hawks used depend on the bird pests present. They should preferably be a bird predator of the pest bird species as occasional kills will reinforce the perception of danger (Grubb 1977, cited in Erickson et al. 1990). The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the goshawk (Accipiter gentiles) are most often used (Erikson et al. 1990). Raptor use is mainly limited to airports where the risk of birdstrikes is high and a variety of measures are taken to ensure aircraft safety, though in the UK, falcons are also frequently used to deter birds from landfill sites (Baxter 2002c).”
“When using falconry for bird control on airfields, the raptor must be clearly visible to discourage target birds from entering the area and to chase away birds already present. Actual capturing or killing of a bird is not the object (Roeper 2001). Falconry is an expensive method of bird control as the birds require special care and training and a specialist handler, and often a number of falcons must be provided to operate at different times of the day. For many aerodromes the additional time and expenditure cannot be justified (CAA 2002). However, falconry is popular with the public as it is environmentally friendly and considered humane as the target birds are not killed but merely chased from the area (Dolbeer 1998), though the most effective falconry does involve the occasional killing of the prey species.”
“Roeper (2001) analysed the mean number of bird strikes reported per 100 landings and 100 departures at Travis Air Force Base, California, before and after the introduction of a falconry programme. His results indicated that falconry reduced the number of strikes and also reduced the severity of strikes in terms of mean dollar costs of aircraft damage. However, these cost savings appeared to be less than the cost of the falconry programme. He recommended that research be continued to determine when habituation to the falcons occurred and to determine which species of birds were not deterred by the falcons.”
“Successful bird control using falconry was achieved on military air bases at Istres, France. Between 1979 and 1983, the numbers of bird strikes were reduced from 16 to zero (Briot 1984). Dolbeer (1998) evaluated the effectiveness of shooting and falconry for bird control at JFK International Airport, New York. The study indicated that shooting reduced bird strikes but falconry did not.”
“The use of falcons and hawks on landfill sites in the UK has been evaluated by Baxter (2000e; 2002c; undated), and has shown varying success. Numbers of scavenging gulls and corvids were reduced when falcons were flown, particularly from dawn to dusk, though poor weather conditions when the birds could not be flown allowed the gulls and corvids to return to feed. Hawks (red-tailed hawk and Harris hawk) were less successful. These raptors generally take ground prey like rabbits when hunting, so their interest in pursuing corvids and gulls was minimal (Baxter, undated). Habituation to the hawks occurred quickly and within four weeks gulls and corvids resumed feeding at the landfill.”
“Although expensive and time consuming, falconry has the potential to remove hazardous birds from areas of land more quickly than can be achieved using conventional bird control methods, and they can also extend their influence into surrounding land where access may be restricted. However, other bird-scaring methods are often equally or more effective and economical (Erickson et al. 1990). Falcons appear to be more successful than hawks at bird control due to differences in prey species. Like many other control techniques, poor visibility and bad weather restricts use, and the birds must be flown regularly to sustain their effectiveness.”
Price range:
The cost of this service varies considerably from company to company. Most providers of the service will insist on a demonstration prior to quoting due to the fact that when a hawk is first introduced into a flock of feral pigeons it will have an immediate effect. Charges range from £60-£80 per ½ hour - 1 hour through to £150 per visit for up to 3 hours.
User reviews:
To date we have been unable to find any user reviews for raptor control services but we will update this section as and when user reviews are made available to us. If you are able to provide a user review for raptor control services please contact the Pigeon Control Resource Centre.
Comments from the Manufacturer/Distributor:
Not applicable
Editorial comments:
Harris Hawk
The use of a raptor as a bird control option is clearly a highly debatable and expensive method of control with few, if any, guarantees of success. In most cases the cost of the service alone renders this control option prohibitive for a majority of property owners and the issue of negative publicity for the client is a further consideration. The fact that the client will need to use the service virtually every day and for several hours each day in order for the raptor to have any effect on the target species will necessitate an indefinite contract, potentially costing over £1000 a week. To put this figure into perspective, the average budget put aside for pest control services by most commercial property owners for a small to medium sized building, which will include the control of rodents as well as birds, is normally less than £1000 a year.The most worrying aspect of the ever-increasing use of raptors in the pest control marketplace is the fact that most of those offering the service know little or nothing about bird control, particularly those with a background in falconry. When a client is asked to pay out large sums of money for a control system that is not only considered to be ineffective but which also requires the contractor to provide the service indefinitely, the reputation of the industry as a whole is compromised. The average building can be effectively proofed with an industry standard product such as the anti-roosting spike for a fraction of the cost of a one-month contract for a raptor control service. The essential difference is that once the building has been protected by effective anti-perching products such as anti-roosting spikes the property owner can forget the problem. When using raptor control services the contract is open-ended and the effectiveness of the service is, at best, questionable.
Experts within the field of falconry, such as Jemima Parry-Jones, an international authority on the subject, have been highly critical of the use of raptors for the purpose of bird control, which speaks volumes about this method of control. Real concerns exist over the safety of raptors used for bird control, particularly when being flown in urban environments. In town and city centres the sheer volume of overhead cables and wires and buildings with mirrored frontages present very considerable dangers to birds that have no history of flying in these environments. Raptors such as the kestrel are sometimes seen in city centres, with small numbers breeding and hunting exclusively in urban environments, but this is the only species of raptor that is regularly seen in town and city centres in the UK. Urban kestrels will feed almost exclusively on small birds, rarely pigeons and never gulls, and therefore this species presents no danger to the most common urban pest species. When a large raptor is introduced into a foreign environment such as city centre where sights, sounds and moving objects abound to distract the birds, the safety of the raptor is brought into question, irrespective of how well trained the bird may be.A good example of a handler unable to exert control over a raptor is the case of a raptor that was being used by a falconer as part of a pigeon removal operation in a suburb of Norwich in 2005. When the bird decided that it had had enough of working it flew off into Norwich city centre where the bird attacked a pigeon, bringing it down in front of horrified shoppers and diners at lunchtime where it proceeded to tear the pigeon to pieces whilst still alive. The pigeon was apparently alive for some 15 minutes whilst being eaten, according to onlookers. The negative publicity surrounding this type of botched pest control operation simply acts to bring the pest control industry into disrepute. Similarly, the actions of the hawk handlers contracted by Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, in Trafalgar Square have done little to persuade the public that falconry is anything other than an inhumane bloodsport.
Harris Hawk Eating Live Pigeon
Horrified shoppers look on as raptor eats a pigeon it has attacked and brought down in Norwich City centre, 2005.
These photos appeared in the Norwich Evening News 1st December 2005 and are provided courtesy of the Norwich Evening News.
Flying a raptor as a method of control cannot be considered to be an effective nor a cost-effective means of controlling any species of pest bird. The service appears to be an outlet for falconry hobbyists in the main and even where the service is provided by a bona fide pest control company, such as the company used in Trafalgar Square, the standard and public acceptance of the service is far from guaranteed. The Pigeon Control Resource Centre cannot recommend this service other than for use on airfields and waste disposal sites and even then there is doubt as to the effectiveness of this control. For the control of pigeons and gulls in urban environments the service is simply a waste of money and in virtually every case those experiencing problems with pest species of birds would be better advised to install anti-perching products or look at other scaring options.
Sources:
*Daniel Haag Wackernagel.
DEFRA quotes:
Game pigeon hacks cup pong. PDF on DEFRA website entitled: ‘Review of international research regarding the effectiveness of auditory bird scaring techniques and potential alternatives’. By J Bishop, H McKay, D Parrott and J Allan.
Also commonly known as:
Raptor control, hawk control, raptor flying, bird control, falconry
Relevance to pigeon control:
Birds of prey are commonly used for pigeon control and gull control in urban areas and the control of multiple species on landfill sites and on airport runways