One of the scariest sights a bird can see while hanging out at an airport just might be … another bird. Not just any bird but one of several particular species of raptors that chase down other, smaller birds.
This relationship between the hunters and the hunted plays into the hands of some airport managers who want a multitude of tools at their disposal to ward off bird strikes. Falconry — hunting by a falcon or hawk in cooperation with a human partner — is one of those tools.
“Just the sight of a falcon flying is enough to scare the birds away from an airfield,” said Mark Adam, president of Falcon Environmental Services, which provides bird-strike prevention services at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Montreal–Trudeau International Airport and a number of military airfields in Canada and the United States.
“It’s like the shark in the water,” Adam said. “If you were at the beach and saw a shark fin [in the water], you’d get out right away. The same thing…
