When the pigeons started getting a little too familiar at one Ford factory, plant managers turned to another bird for help.
Ford’s 12 million-square-foot facility in Hermosillo, Mexico employs more than 4,000 workers and builds more than 300,000 pickup trucks and SUVs every year. It also used to have a serious pigeon infestation issue. According to the Wall Street Journal, the stout-bodied birds would wait outside the doors before the factory opened. Once inside, they would get in the way of light beams and equipment, poop on vehicles and generally pose a health risk.
The plant tried blasting bird sounds and hanging predator replicas to scare away the birds. But nothing worked until the facility hired a hawk named “El Charro.”
“El Charro” typically works three hour shifts, patrolling the facility and finding pigeon gathering grounds so workers can later come in and clear out nests. The hawk’s diligence, including more than 300 flights and more than 1,000 hours, has produced results. The facility has seen an about 80% reduction in evidence of bird activity.
“El Charro” and the falconer who works with the hawk have not just successfully chased off the pigeons; they’ve also become local celebrities, with many of the plant workers asking for photos together with the bird.
As the report points out, this type of nuisance-bird mitigation has become increasingly popular across several industries including airports, landfills and wineries looking to keep birds from snacking on their fruit.
