“If they’re going to hire falconers, that’s a great option. If this money is spent on some reasonable method of scaring away crows, and not their extermination, then this is a sensible decision, ”the expert said.
According to Schneider, killing the birds could have the opposite effect, as new birds from the wild will come to replace the killed crows.
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Elena Chernova, an employee of the coordination center of the Bird Conservation Union, told RBC that there is no such number of crows in Moscow that needs to be exterminated.
“The number of crows in Moscow has been falling for several years. Their number was reduced by five times without any extermination. They cannot harm the roof in any way if the roof is not made of plasticine, ”explained Chernov.
According to her, it makes sense to use hawks and falcons against pigeons, whose droppings can damage the roof.
After the publication of this article, a representative of the Ministry of Natural Resources told RBC that mass crowds of crows pose a threat, since these birds are carriers of diseases, worsen the sanitary condition, harm green spaces and buildings, monuments of architecture.
“Of those used in domestic and foreign practice, an effective means of protection against unwanted accumulations of birds is the use of specially trained hawks and falcons as biorepellants. To achieve the best results, a group of working birds should ideally consist of four or five hawks and two or three falcons, with which four or six operators (falconers) should work in shifts, ”the interlocutor of RBC explained.
“The financing of these works includes the maintenance of the required number of birds of prey, veterinary services, scientific and methodological support of work and genetic control over the livestock of birds of prey, the purchase of equipment and transport support. These works will be carried out by the FGBI VNII Ecology, – he added.
In the summer of 2019 at the lobbies of Moscow metro stations appeared stickers with the image of silhouettes of predators to scare away small birds, which often shattered on the transparent glass of the lobby.
Most often, birds pose a danger to aviation infrastructure facilities. In September 2019, Zhukovsky Airport near Moscow ordered bioacoustic devices and mirror balls for scaring away birds. In 2015, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov dispersed birds at the airport in Grozny using an unmanned aerial vehicle.
In 2017, Lieutenant General of the Federal Security Service Sergei Khlebnikov statedthat the Kremlin uses noise systems and other technical means to scare away crows.
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