Why does falconry provide reliable bird management?
In the wild, when a raptor goes in for a kill, it uses an aggressive flight pattern and wing beat that pest birds recognize as threatening. When hunting, this aggressive flight pattern causes pest birds to scatter and clear the area for a short period of time. When the hunt is over, the raptor is full and does not waste precious energy killing more than it can eat. This is why you may see pest birds and raptors sitting near each other on power lines. Pest birds are not threatened when raptors are not flying aggressively.
Traditional falconry capitalizes on a raptor's ability to catch prey, but abatement techniques go one step further by encouraging a raptor to stay in the air and continually chase pest birds. Raptors are taught to fly aggressively and continuously and are rewarded with a piece of raw meat when they flush out a flock or push pest birds out of an area. By continually hazing pest birds, raptors not only scare birds, they can make it such a stressful environment for pest birds that flocks will leave a site entirely.
Using abatement techniques requires flying more than one raptor a day. This can give pest birds the impression that raptor pressure is higher in your field than it actually is and can further deter pest birds from entering your field.
On occasion, a raptor will catch a pest bird, but the falconer usually prevents it from eating the kill unless it is the end of the raptor's flying time. In that instance, raptors are often rewarded for the day's work with the kill.
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