In the wild, birds of prey need to hunt, escape predators and survive the elements – but the ones working with humans get to do all of that and more.
Across North America, birds of prey are being utilized by organizations and businesses as a means of dissuade gulls from certain places, such as landfill where the birds would carry off garbage, or at airports where birds would feast on worms around runways.
On Vancouver Island, one organization commonly contracted to do that work is the Raptors, based in Duncan.
"They're working birds, and we're just applying this natural predator presence to the area," said Alex Goguen, the Raptors' Nanaimo area manager. "These problem species, they don't want to hang around when there's a predator in the area. If you're standing somewhere and there's a lion nearby, you're probably not going to hang out in that area."
Goguen has bird partners clearing the skies at the Nanaimo Regional Landfill, Nanaimo Airport and the Nanaimo Courthouse, with a variety of avian species, including a 10-year-old Harris's hawk named Vega.
The goal isn't to hurt the gulls, she said, although on rare occasions the hawk, a natural predator of the gulls, may get overzealous – the aim is to encourage the gulls to nest elsewhere.
"We just want to be scary and move these gulls out of here and say, 'Hey, this isn't a great place to forage.'"
Often, when Goguen arrives at the landfill she takes out a stock whip, sending loud cracks echoing through the air as a signal for the gulls that the predators are here and it's time to go.
The hawks and falcons serve as "bouncers," released into the air following the warning. Harris's hawks and red-tailed hawks are more commonly used, but Taz, a gyrfalcon, will also be sent out at the landfill occasionally.
During the fall and winter, the Raptors are at the landfill seven days a week, with two staff on Monday to Friday covering dawn to dusk. During the spring and summer, Goguen spends six hours a day, three days a week at the landfill, with Vega being one of her regular partners for the task.
"During the spring and summer there is a lot more food available, daylight hours are a lot longer so it's easier for them to forage in other locations, they don't have to depend on the landfill as much, but in the fall-winter there are shorter daylight hours, less opportunity to forage and some of these gulls have grown up eating here consistently," Goguen said. "So they learned this is a really good source of food and sometimes you can have thousands of gulls in a really small area."
The result is a situation that's dangerous for everyone. If left uninterrupted, the landfill gulls will eat plastics, carrying stolen trash into streets and waterways. The gulls will also defend their nests, attacking workers who draw near.
For Vega, it's less of a job and more of a game, flying around the air, and coming back when a whistle is blown to perch on Goguen's glove and eat some fresh meat, before taking to the air again when ready.
At first glance it may seem like a domestic pet-and-owner relationship, but the reality is the partnership is anything but. Everything the hawk does is on its own terms, from flying out to returning.
Should Vega decide to fly away, Goguen said she has the ability to track him with radio telemetry attached to his leg, but can't make him go with her. At the end of the day, Vega needs to make the choice that life with the Raptors is better compared to life in the wild. Beyond the easy access to food, captivity has other perks – such as health care. In the wild, the average Harris' hawk lifespan is only 11 years, but in human care they can reach their 20s and even their early 30s.
"A big part of that is when they're with people they have bodyguards. If a predator comes after him and I'm nearby, I'm going to help him. If he has an injury, he's going to get veterinary care. Some raptors are not very successful hunters, in fact, 40-90 per cent don't make it past their first winter, so if they're not a very successful hunter we're still feeding them."
About 10 per cent of the birds flee on their first free-fly, she said. When that happens, she follows them, so even if the bird loses its bearings, it has an easy out by flying back to its human companion. The radio telemetry lasts between two weeks to a month.
That isn't a problem for Vega, a hawk that seems to enjoy the symbiotic lifestyle. Goguen said she once tried to work with him at the Nanaimo Courthouse, but ran into a problem – Vega was too friendly with people. Before long, he was perched on a fence post, trying to interact with some presumably confused strangers.
"Of course I know he's not going to do anything, and he's not going to hurt anyone, but that person just sees a random hawk landing next to them and that could be very startling [to] the person. After, I was like, 'Maybe this isn't the job for you.'"
As a result, Vega is employed in landfills, airports and education at the Raptors visitor centre, where enjoying the presence of people is a gift rather than a liability when performing flying demonstrations.
"Vega is truly a jack of all trades, he does everything."
At the landfill, Vega doesn't fly far from Goguen, occasionally swooping close by as if to let her know he is there. This is something the pair is working on, with Goguen calling him back to reward Vega with meat when he flies into wind, which gives him height. The goal is that someday Vega can push the gulls out further. For the time being, Vega prefers keeping his human companion in close range. Not all her birds respond the same way – the gyrfalcon once flew all the way to the Nanaimo River Estuary pursuing gulls.
"The birds that I work with the most tend to be the ones I have a really strong relationship with," Goguen said. "What's interesting when working with raptors is they're very much wild animals. They're not like a dog or a cat that aim to please … Working with our raptors is really a partnership, they recognize we make their lives easier."
Goguen loves her job, which she said gives her the opportunity to be a "mediator" between the people and the gulls.
"Gulls are often not seen as type of bird a lot of people like. So I like being that mediator between wildlife and people and being able to resolve this conflict without relying on other traditional methods that might not be as kind to the species that we're moving. Getting to work with amazing birds like Vega is a huge perk."
