Control of Pigeons at

 The Scottish Parliament

Hawks and Falcon

   ©

Since about early 2009, the company NBC Bird and Pest Control has had a contract to discourage pigeons from nesting at the Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood, Edinburgh.

They control the pigeons through by bringing Harris hawks (a South American bird of prey, formerly known as the Bay-winged hawk or dusky hawk) and a falcon to fly around the site.

The hawks and falcon do not attack the pigeons.  Simply flying around the site is a sufficient deterrent.

The hawks have the advantage of being able to fly in tight spaces amongst the Parliament buildings, and being happy to fly in pairs.

The falcon flies faster and is a greater deterrent to the pigeons, but falcons are less manoeuverable than the hawks and are not happy to fly in pairs.

Here are some photos of the hawks operating outside the Scottish Parliament in May and July 2010.