The risks that birds create in certain circumstances have
brought the need for
bird abatement. Amongst those
risks are loss of investments in
farming and
aviculture,
aircraft crashes, and bacteriological and viral
contamination. With more recent outbreaks of Newcastle's
disease and the
Avian Flu, it is reasonable to expect that bird
abatement will become a larger industry.
Problems
Damage to farming
When a flock of birds descends upon a farmer's field,
they can eat up the seed and produce, damaging a farmer's
crop.
Canadian Geese, once a fully protected species of
migratory bird, have become so comfortable at some farms
as to abandon their migrations and take up residency.
Crows,
starlings,
bluejays and many other species also pose a threat to
crops.
Raptors and other predators are an age-old concern for those
who raise gamebirds and
pigeons as
livestock.
Aircraft crashes
Birds tend to see the open grasslands of an airport as an
oasis. They quickly become desensitized to the planes, and
set up residency. Unfortunately, birds flying near an
airport have been responsible for many aircraft crashes
resulting in loss of life and property. Whether by merely
distracting the pilot, breaking a windscreen, striking the
prop, or causing a
jet to crash when a bird is sucked into the aircraft's
turbines, airborne birds are a dangerous thing at an
airport.
Health hazards
Concentrations of
seagulls frequenting landfills in search of discarded
food in coastal areas have been shown to cause significant
health hazard by drop
feces in nearby waters.
Solutions
Scarecrow
One of the earliest methods of bird abatement is the
scarecrow that farmers used to erect in their fields to
keep the birds from eating planted seeds and crops.
Fashioned of a stick frame covered in human clothing stuffed
with straw, and often garnished with tin cans on strings and
pie tins, the image of a scarecrow in a farmer's field has
become classic.
Unfortunately, it proves ineffective, as the birds
quickly become comfortable with the statue. In more recent
times, netting has been placed over berry crops, poisons
have been put out in the fields, and falconers' services
employed, all of which are far more successful. The
proverbial scarecrow, which often ended up serving as a
perch for the birds they were expected to frighten away, are
now largely a romantic relic of agriculture.
Poison
In some places,
poison has been set out to kill off the offending birds.
This environmentally unsound practice still occurs, but is
on the decline owing to the fact that other creatures also
consume the poisons. Secondary kills of desirable predators,
as well as roaming dogs, cats, have demonstrated the
dangers. Poisons are not discriminating. There is also
concern that a child may inadvertently eat the poison bait.
In recent times, more evolved and ecologically friendly
methods have been used.
Falconry
One of the more common and popular modern methods of bird
abatement is employing
falconers to fly trained raptors over the fields,
landfills and airports. When the raptor appears and chases
the offending birds, the prey quickly scatters. Without
regular flights several times a day, they will return, but
so long as the raptor's presence is maintained, the problem
is largely solved. Falconers' services are employed all
across the country, with considerable success. Thus
falconry, which has long been an antiquidated pastime since
its medieval origins, has resurfaced as a profession.