Revealed, robot hawk that has doos in a f lap
RAIL chiefs have gone out on a wing and a prayer to tackle the menace of pigeons at Scotland’s biggest station – by bringing in a pair of robot falcons.
Network Rail spent £9,000 to have the robot peregrines installed at Edinburgh Waverley, which has been plagued by pigeons and seagulls for 150 years.
The plastic predators have been programmed to rotate their heads, flap their wings and unleash four different calls to strike fear into their ‘prey’.
John Donald of Robop, the East Lothian company which produces the birds, said yesterday: ‘Most raptors hunt down small animals like voles, but peregrines live off other birds, so pigeons and seagulls are terrified of them.
‘A falcon kills by descending on the target bird at great speed. This is called a stoop.
‘Attacks occur with such speed and surprise that birds go on full alert as soon as a peregrine is spotted. Many species, such as gulls, have a specific alarm call to alert their fellows, who will tend to flock together and fly off.
‘Robop has been designed to look, move and sound like a real per- egrine falcon in order to cause the same reaction as the real bird. Our objective is to firstly cause a panic reaction so that the pest birds will fly away.
‘We also want to convey to birds that a peregrine falcon has taken up residence in their territory, so there is no point in returning.’
Robop has installed the handbuilt birds all over the world, including at the All-England Ten-
‘The pigeons are terrified of them’
nis Club in Wimbledon, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and a salt mine in the US.
Much nearer to home, they were brought in to help protect the giant new roof at Waverley installed by contractor Balfour Beatty.
Mr Donald said the peregrines’ presence may have a permanent effect on the pigeon population. He added: ‘They have been there for 150 years, so it may not happen overnight – but if the pigeons and seagulls believe a pair of peregrines have moved in on their territory it could force them out.’
The 111,500 sq ft roof consists of 24,700 panes of glass. Waverley is the UK’s second-largest station by area, with only London Victoria taking up more ground. Some 25million passengers use Waverley each year.
A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘There are a number of reasons why we try to deter pigeons, health and safety primarily. If we didn’t act to keep numbers in check, the station environment would quickly become very unpleasant and could lead to slips and falls.
‘We already have replica, nonmoving, deterrent birds in various locations around the station, as well as netting and surfaces that deter pigeons from landing and prevent access to known roosting spots.
‘We also have a device in the travel hall that emits a noise at a high frequency known to deter pigeons.’