Hawk stops pigeons from fouling offices

West Croydon's pigeon population has been put into full flight after a bird of prey was brought in to keep them off a new development.

The airspace around Croydon Interchange, by West Croydon station, is being patrolled by Spirit the Harris hawk, brought in especially to keep pigeons from fouling on the multi-million pound project.

Commercial property developer Canmoor and its sponsor, CarVal, decided to use the novel and environmentally friendly approach of deterring the pigeons, which had blighted the project at the outset, from settling.

Spirit, who has been visiting for four months now, maintains a no-fly zone around the building by breaking the cycles and patterns of the pigeons.

VanVynck Environmental specialises in offering an on-going programme that trains hawks in the London and South-east region to interrupt and alter patterns of roosting, feeding and breeding of pigeons.

The group emphasises the hawks are not used to kill the pigeons, merely to scare them off.

Under the watchful eye of trained handler Chris Jordan, Spirit is fitted with a radio transmitter and is free to fly over the rooftop of Interchange at either dawn or dusk.

A similar technique has been employed at Wimbledon tennis championships to keep the air free from pigeons and other birdlife.

Building management has reported the number of birds around Interchange, a Grade A office block - the highest category of office space - has dramatically decreased, with the eight roosting pigeons at the start of the project now gone.

The hawk service is one part of a wider scheme by Interchange to prevent birds from damaging the area.

Other strategies include a daily cleaning campaign and encouraging residents to stop feeding the pigeons and leaving litter around the borough.

Article courtesy of the Croydon Guardian.