'Robofalcons' to take on UK city's pesky pidgeons

I saw a show on raptors and I have a newly learned appreciation for the peregrine falcon. When it views prey near the ground from almost a mile up, it folds it's wings in towards it's body and drops into a straight dive traveling at speeds of up to 200 miles an hour only to pull out of the dive when it captures it's prey seconds before impact. Meanwhile, it's vision is funneled (which improves their vision as it isolates prey) so the bird has to rotate in circles in order to keep the prey within it's view during it's entire descent.

Their speed during this descent is so fast that a single small particle striking it's eye would be the equivalent to a bullet entering it's skull. It's equipped with a special eyelid to protect it from such damage.

I've never had the opportunity to see this spectacle, but I'm definitely going to be seeking it out.

As for these poor folks with all the pigeons, I've a feeling that those pigeons will eventually be conditioned to ignore those fake falcons.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Apr 20 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]426768[/snapback]</div>

The quoted line describing these as "robotic falcons" is misleading. To me a robot is something that moves and imitates a live animal, human or otherwise. These appear to be almost paralysed "falcons" as they simply stand in one place and squawk. Maybe the pigeons, city birds familiar with the ways of a big human city, will think they're trying to sell something. Their response may well be to cover them with droppings.

Oy maybe the journalist who wrote this piece has got the facts wrong.

 

I was picturing remote controlled mechanical birds, too, but no. I highly doubt a stationary fake falcon will be effective for anything but target practice. Maybe they should try WD40. Sounds bizarre, I know, but pigeons can't stand the smell and won't go anywhere near it. Which is even stranger, considering it's made of fish oil. I had pigeons once as unwanted guests during some renovations. I blocked all the holes I could, threatened to serve them for dinner, and fired rubber bands from close range every chance I got. They'd take off, but would always came back awhile later. I happened to read something about 1001 uses for WD40, and one of them was that it drove pigeons away. So I tried it. With a silly grin on my face, I nailed the buggers with it, and then sprayed the beam they were roosting on. I haven't seen them since. No poop, in more ways than one.