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> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_tHGdz2ZSw9LOZc42ExKXog) Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Airport security's flying squad -- To prevent bird strikes on plane engines, some airports are employing feathered foes -- Globe and Mail, July 23, 2007 Globe and Mail, July 23, 2007 UNUSUAL JOBS Airport security's flying squad To prevent bird strikes on plane engines, some airports are employing feathered foes GEOFF NIXON July 23, 2007 Rob Shevalier has one of the most unconventional security jobs at Toronto Pearson International Airport. He's a falconer by trade, and the 36-year-old spends his time driving around the 1,900 hectares of land at Pearson in a Ford F-150 pickup truck scaring away avian pests. Birds, whether big or small, can be major hazards for both pilots and passengers when they get caught in the turbines of planes, with bird strikes accounting for an estimated $1.2-billion in damage every year to the worldwide airline industry. That's why it is Mr. Shevalier's job to discourage these wild and winged flight hazards from hanging around his airport. Mr. Shevalier is part of a team of 12 falconers, who contract their services to the airport through Canadian wildlife services company Falcon Environmental Services, that partners with birds of prey - 11 falcons, 10 hawks and one bald eagle - to chase away problem birds. "Over the years, the program has evolved [from] where it was one guy going out with either a falcon or a shot gun and doing bird control," said Mr. Shevalier, who has been a falconer at Pearson for the past seven years. "Now it's a little more sophisticated," he said, noting that new types of computer technology allow them to keep precise statistical information on the location, number and types of birds nesting on airport grounds. Using such methods, Mr. Shevalier said, he and his fellow wildlife control officers counted - and presumably scared away - more than 500,000 avian visitors to the Toronto airfield last year. "It's the best job in the world," Mr. Shevalier said. "It's a gratifying job where you know that when you're out there flying your birds that you are making an impact on safety." Together, from one hour before dawn until an hour after dusk, Mr. Shevalier and his fellow falconers keep a close eye on the number of birds they come across on airport grounds and keep track of where they like to hang out. And that's where the action begins. "We have the birds in our vehicles, they are equipped to carry two to three birds [each]," Mr. Shevalier said. Between 30 to 50 times a shift, each of the falconers will let one of their avian companions loose to harass the selected targets. "Our hawks, which we fly out of the window - they actually sit on the head rests of the vehicle - we can drive up to 40 kilometres an hour, roll down the window, she'll fly out to chase off a nuisance bird and then fly back to the vehicle," he said. "So we can actually drive on the taxiway or on the runway, have the bird fly out of the vehicle, without us stopping and without us even bothering the tower." The falcons, he said, are kept hooded in the back of the truck and are driven to the locations they are needed and released from outside of the vehicle. The bald eagles, who Mr. Shevalier said are simply too big to manage in the front seat, are released outside the vehicle as well. Mr. Shevalier said the falconer program at Pearson has been in place since the 1970s, but it has grown and it continues to develop every day; last month the airport introduced four more members to its falcon flock. And it's not just Toronto that has invested in these avian experts. About a half-dozen military and commercial airports across Canada, including CFB Trenton and Halifax International Airport, use falconers to patrol their airport lands. In Halifax, falconer Derek Forrest has led the airport's falcon effort since it started in 1999. The year before they started using falcons, Mr. Forrest said, the airport suffered 68 bird strikes. By the end of the first year of the falcon program, that number had declined to 12 and it has stayed low ever since. Bruce MacKinnon, chair of the Bird Strike Committee of Canada, said using birds of prey for airport wildlife control is not a widespread practice at Canadian airports because it is not necessarily the most cost-effective method. "It's an expensive way of doing ... bird control work, and it's probably no more effective than other techniques," Mr. MacKinnon said, adding that large Canadian airports typically spend at least $1-million a year dealing with wildlife concerns. But, Mr. MacKinnon pointed out, the method does have its advantages. "Falconry provides one big asset," he said. "When an airport uses falconry it becomes a very good public relations tool. For whatever reason, animal welfare advocates would far rather see a falcon hunt a bird than a human." --Boundary_(ID_tHGdz2ZSw9LOZc42ExKXog) Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>FW: Airport security's flying squad -- To prevent bird strikes on plane engines, some airports are employing feathered foes -- Globe and Mail, July 23, 2007</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BR> <B>Subject: </B>Airport security's flying squad -- To prevent bird strikes on plane engines, some airports are employing feathered foes -- Globe and Mail, July 23, 2007<BR> <BR> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Arial">Globe and Mail, July 23, 2007 <BR> <BR> UNUSUAL JOBS <BR> </FONT></FONT><FONT FACE="Arial"><H2>Airport security's flying squad<BR> </H2><H3>To prevent bird strikes on plane engines, some airports are employing feathered foes<BR> </H3><FONT SIZE="2">GEOFF NIXON <BR> <BR> July 23, 2007<BR> Rob Shevalier has one of the most unconventional security jobs at Toronto Pearson International Airport. <BR> <BR> He's a falconer by trade, and the 36-year-old spends his time driving around the 1,900 hectares of land at Pearson in a Ford F-150 pickup truck scaring away avian pests. <BR> <BR> Birds, whether big or small, can be major hazards for both pilots and passengers when they get caught in the turbines of planes, with bird strikes accounting for an estimated $1.2-billion in damage every year to the worldwide airline industry. <BR> <BR> That's why it is Mr. Shevalier's job to discourage these wild and winged flight hazards from hanging around his airport. <BR> <BR> Mr. Shevalier is part of a team of 12 falconers, who contract their services to the airport through Canadian wildlife services company Falcon Environmental Services, that partners with birds of prey - 11 falcons, 10 hawks and one bald eagle - to chase away problem birds.<BR> <BR> "Over the years, the program has evolved [from] where it was one guy going out with either a falcon or a shot gun and doing bird control," said Mr. Shevalier, who has been a falconer at Pearson for the past seven years. <BR> <BR> "Now it's a little more sophisticated," he said, noting that new types of computer technology allow them to keep precise statistical information on the location, number and types of birds nesting on airport grounds. <BR> <BR> Using such methods, Mr. Shevalier said, he and his fellow wildlife control officers counted - and presumably scared away - more than 500,000 avian visitors to the Toronto airfield last year. <BR> <BR> "It's the best job in the world," Mr. Shevalier said. <BR> <BR> "It's a gratifying job where you know that when you're out there flying your birds that you are making an impact on safety." <BR> <BR> Together, from one hour before dawn until an hour after dusk, Mr. Shevalier and his fellow falconers keep a close eye on the number of birds they come across on airport grounds and keep track of where they like to hang out. <BR> <BR> And that's where the action begins. <BR> <BR> "We have the birds in our vehicles, they are equipped to carry two to three birds [each]," Mr. Shevalier said. <BR> <BR> Between 30 to 50 times a shift, each of the falconers will let one of their avian companions loose to harass the selected targets. <BR> <BR> "Our hawks, which we fly out of the window - they actually sit on the head rests of the vehicle - we can drive up to 40 kilometres an hour, roll down the window, she'll fly out to chase off a nuisance bird and then fly back to the vehicle," he said. <BR> <BR> "So we can actually drive on the taxiway or on the runway, have the bird fly out of the vehicle, without us stopping and without us even bothering the tower." <BR> <BR> The falcons, he said, are kept hooded in the back of the truck and are driven to the locations they are needed and released from outside of the vehicle. The bald eagles, who Mr. Shevalier said are simply too big to manage in the front seat, are released outside the vehicle as well. <BR> <BR> Mr. Shevalier said the falconer program at Pearson has been in place since the 1970s, but it has grown and it continues to develop every day; last month the airport introduced four more members to its falcon flock. <BR> <BR> And it's not just Toronto that has invested in these avian experts. About a half-dozen military and commercial airports across Canada, including CFB Trenton and Halifax International Airport, use falconers to patrol their airport lands. In Halifax, falconer Derek Forrest has led the airport's falcon effort since it started in 1999. <BR> <BR> The year before they started using falcons, Mr. Forrest said, the airport suffered 68 bird strikes. By the end of the first year of the falcon program, that number had declined to 12 and it has stayed low ever since. <BR> <BR> Bruce MacKinnon, chair of the Bird Strike Committee of Canada, said using birds of prey for airport wildlife control is not a widespread practice at Canadian airports because it is not necessarily the most cost-effective method. <BR> <BR> "It's an expensive way of doing ... bird control work, and it's probably no more effective than other techniques," Mr. MacKinnon said, adding that large Canadian airports typically spend at least $1-million a year dealing with wildlife concerns. <BR> <BR> But, Mr. MacKinnon pointed out, the method does have its advantages. <BR> <BR> "Falconry provides one big asset," he said. "When an airport uses falconry it becomes a very good public relations tool. For whatever reason, animal welfare advocates would far rather see a falcon hunt a bird than a human."<BR> </FONT></FONT><BR> </BODY> </HTML> --Boundary_(ID_tHGdz2ZSw9LOZc42ExKXog)--
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