• Home
  • Contact Us
facebook
twitter
youtube
Join the WEIS Radio Road Crew tomorrow (2/16) from 9am to Noon at Hall’s RV, Inc. on US Hwy 431 in Albertville! We’ll see you there!
Register to win $396 in this week’s Cash Giveaway at City Pawn on Bypass in Centre and Weiss Electric on Hwy 9 S in Centre!
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @weisradio!
WEIS 100.5 FM & 990 AM, Southern, Country, and American Proud!
  • HOME
  • Today’s Info
    • Obituaries
    • Trading Post
    • Community Calendar
    • Church News
    • Yard Sales
    • Contest Winners
    • Photo Slideshows
    • Weiss Lake Area Fishing
    • Georgia Lottery
  • News
    • Local News
    • Area News
    • National News
    • World News
    • Political News
    • Business News
    • Health News
    • Church News
    • Community News
  • Sports
    • Local Sports
    • High School Basketball Broadcast Schedule
    • End Zone Show
    • Tailgate Show
    • High School Football Broadcast Schedule
    • WEIS Prep Scoreboard
    • Weiss Lake Area Fishing
    • National Sports
    • Auburn Tigers
      • Auburn Football
      • Auburn Men’s Basketball
    • Alabama Crimson Tide
      • Alabama Football
      • Alabama Men’s Basketball
  • Weather
    • Weather Center
    • 7-Day Forecast
    • Regional Radar Loop
    • National Weather Service
  • Entertainment
    • Entertainment News
    • Country Music News
    • Southern Gospel News
    • Billboard.com Hot Country Charts
  • Listen Live
  • About Us
    • Station Info
    • Staff Directory
    • Contact Us
    • FCC Public Inspection File

Falcon for hire: Meet the Vancouver metro’s solution to pesky pigeons

13 Feb 2018
ABC News Radio
Off
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

ABC News(VANCOUVER) — It’s a rainy afternoon in January in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, and commuters are dashing into Burrard Station to get out of the weather and onto their trains. Above the rush, a dozen or so sleeping pigeons are sitting quietly on the roof.

That is, until Avro the peregrine falcon arrives.

“Birds know birds,” falconer Kim Kamstra told ABC News. “Predators send out a message. The prey is looking for that message. So, when he acts natural and looks at them in a certain way, the pigeons leave.”

In December, Kamstra, co-owner of Raptors Ridge Birds of Prey with his wife, Karen Kamstra, were contracted to be part of a six-week, six station pilot program launched by the city’s mass transit company, British Columbia Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC), a subsidiary of TransLink. The mission was simple: Scare the pigeons away from the city’s SkyTrain stations.

According to TransLink officials, the SkyTrain rail system is fully automated, so trains rely on sensors in its 53 stations to brake if objects are detected on the track. Last year, 142 delays were caused by birds setting off the sensors, accounting for a nearly 20 percent in delays.

Plus, pigeon feces have been linked to several diseases, which TransLink officials said could raise health concerns.

“It’s fair to say that the pigeons are a problem at most of our stations. Many are above ground and exposed to the elements, and even in underground stations, pigeons somehow get in there,” Chris Bryans, a spokesman for TransLink, told ABC News.

The pigeon problem has been around since 1985, when the rail system went into effect, he noted.

“We’ve tried many things… we’ve tried spikes, nets and even mimicking the sounds of various birds that are predators,” Vivienne King, president of BCRTC, told ABC News. “Apparently we played with this many years ago with the falcons and [we] sort of said ‘Hey, you know, we could try a natural approach because it’s very humane.’”

The theory behind the project is that if raptors and their handlers make enough appearances at stations in a semi-irregular pattern, the pigeons will associate the stations as predator territory and go elsewhere.

Back at Burrard Station, Avro excitedly squawks as Kamstra delicately hoists him out of his travel crate and tethers him to his gloved fist.

“Are you excited?” Kamstra jokes to Avro as the falcon squeals.

Once Avro is comfortably in place, Kamstra walks casually to the station’s front courtyard and almost immediately pigeons flee out of fear. Soon after, other birds start circling and cawing from above.

“Those are gulls flying up above us, and when they make that crying noise, that’s actually an alarm call that there’s a predator in the neighborhood,” Kamstra said. “And nobody likes the predators living in the neighborhood.”

Avro doesn’t seem fazed by the chaos ensuing around him. Occasionally he tries to fly off Kamstra’s fist, only to be thwarted by his tether.

“Some days I think he’s questioning me like, ‘Why can’t I just fly around and scare them?’ That definitely has got to be going through his head,” Kamstra said.

Of the 30 raptors that Kim and Karen Kamstra keep on their 2-acre property in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Avro is Mr. Kamstra’s favorite. Mrs. Kamstra jokes they’re “two peas in a pod” because “he trusts Kim more. Just because Kim and Avro spend so much time together.”

Avro, 6, was adopted by Raptors Ridge Birds of Prey when he was around 3 months old. In addition to the railway pilot program, Kamstra and Avro have also worked in orchards, blueberry fields, educational events and one of Vancouver’s busiest tourist hotspots, Granville Island.

“As you heard him earlier, he does like to talk,” Kamstra said of Avro’s personality. “And that’s just his communication of ‘I trust you, I trust things that we’re going to do together. I feel safe with you all the time.’”

He added, “That’s the connectivity and trust. Without trust, you don’t have a whole heck of a lot.”

A final report detailing the effectiveness of the $18,000 railway raptor pilot program will be published in coming weeks. TransLink officials and Kamstra believe the number of pigeons roosting at the six test stations have decreased.

“Some stations have had well over a 100 pigeons. We’re down to 16 pigeons at those sites,” Kamstra said.

The sight of a falcon in the stations has piqued the interest of some commuters.

“He clears pigeons from the SkyTrains?!” one commuter exclaimed when told about Avro’s job, adding in jest: “So, he earns his keep?”

If BCRTC decides to continue with the program, King said other falcon handlers can apply for the position.

As for Avro’s full-time job prospects, King said of the falcon: “He obviously is quite a star… I’m told he does his job very well.”

Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

About the Author
WEIS Radio App Apple App Store Googe Play Store

Facebook

Facebook

Twitter

Tweets by weisradio

Recent Posts

  • Aurora shooting suspect opened fire during termination meeting: Police
  • Brexit ‘preppers’ stockpiling supplies in case of a doomsday ‘no-deal’
  • Richard Branson eyes Apollo 11 anniversary for his first trip to space
  • Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick defrocked by Vatican over sex abuse claims
  • Federal authorities seize massive 221-pound shipment of cocaine at Southern California port
  • 5 ways to protect yourself from heart disease during American Heart Month
  • Medical emergency sparks panic, fear of shooter at ‘Hamilton’ show in San Francisco
  • US citizen detained in Egypt for over 5 years is dying, desperate for release
  • Richard Branson to hold fundraising concert for Venezuela relief
  • 2 arrested men are released without charges in alleged attack on ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett: Police

Sections

  • Area News
  • Church News
  • Community Calendar
  • Country Music News
  • Entertainment News
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Local Sports
  • National News
  • National Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Southern Gospel News
  • Weather Center
  • World News

More on WEIS Radio

  • 7-Day Forecast
  • Alabama Crimson Tide Football
  • Alabama Crimson Tide Men’s Basketball
  • Auburn Tigers Football
  • Auburn Tigers Men’s Basketball
  • Contest Winners
  • End Zone Show
  • Fort McClellan Credit Union Tailgate Show
  • Slideshow Landing Page
  • Trading Post
  • WEIS Prep Scoreboard
  • Weiss Lake Area Fishing
  • Yard Sales

About Us

  • Contact Us
  • Staff Directory
  • Station Info

Archives

Follow Us

facebook
twitter
youtube
© 2018 Baker Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.