To improve the aviation safety Nizhny Novgorod International Airport (belongs to Airports of Regions Holding) has acquired a goshawk. Using a hawk is part of an action plan undertaken to ensure ornithological safety at Strigino: bio-acoustic equipment emitting the distress calls of birds, gas gun, mirror balls, as well as cutting down bushes and grass mowing.
Goshawk is a young female, two years old, grown in the wild. Now the bird is in the process of habituation to its new owner, the airport’s ornithologist, training to hand feed and sit on the glove on command.
The studies prove that to scare birds away from the airport a hawk needn’t be on the prowl, its presence is enough to cause the other feathered tribe to panic. In this case, crows, gulls, sparrows begin to cry in distress and fly away, and what is more, return to the former place no earlier than in 2-3 weeks. As soon as the hawk takes the necessary training, the airport’s ornithologist will start regular patrol of the airport territory.
Specially trained goshawks and falcons are used to scare birds away at many airports in Russia and around the world.