SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
50 years of Naval Bird Control Heritage
the possibility that the use of falcons for
keeping birds away from airfields might
stimulate substantial efforts to breed
hawks in captivity and perhaps also
engender a more reasonable attitude to
their survival in the wild state’
The issue of modern aircraf t hit ting
birds especially gulls on take -of f
was exercising the minds of the
RNAS at Lossiemouth.
Petty Offcers Careless and Fraser with their duty peregrine falcons at RNAS Lossiemouth, 1965 – 1972. The first
two naval falconers to be trained under the guidance of Mr Phillip Glasier, a professional falconer © Crown
As we celebrate 40 years of Sanctuary
Magazine we also celebrate 50 years
of a remarkable story that linked
the ancient art of falconry with the
protection of a new technology, that of
the jet engine and the modern era of
nature conservation.
Towards the end of World War II the
jet engine started to become a reality.
By 1965 the relatively slow propeller
driven fighters and bombers had
been replaced by the fast jet. The jet
technology had taken the art of flying
beyond that at which wild birds could
evade modern aircraf t.
He thought there would be an
opportunity to somehow set up a
conservation programme to tackle the
major decline of this species across
the nor thern hemisphere.
Sir Peter Scott, who had also been a
naval offcer, made early contact with
Captain Brown; the RNAS Yeovilton
bird control archive holds many
fascinating details and insights from
their correspondence into the early
infancy of this science.
Sir Peter’s initial letter to Captain Brown
in 1969 included the paragraph: ’We see
Captain Brown wrote in response:
’The Naval Air Station at Lossiemouth
had a particularly large seagull
population because the airfield lies
virtually a few hundred yards from the
coastline and also in this area of low
temperatures the concrete runways
are normally always 4⁰c warmer than
the surrounding natural terrain and so
are attractive as a roosting place. The
birds are then in a position to meet jet
aircraft, whose rapid acceleration and
lack of ahead noise (because they are
taking off into wind) catches the birds
unaware and they rise too late and
find themselves perfect targets for the
enormously powerful vacuum cleaners,
which jet engines virtually are.’
And went on to say ‘Pre-1965 we
averaged four bird strikes a month
(usually on take-of f, but occasionally
on landing) at an average cost of
Many airfields were and remain
attractive habitats for a range of
wildlife and especially birds. In
a modern intensively managed
countryside the low intensity
management of an airfield can provide
a good source of food and relatively
safe area to roost for many species.
As the navy investigated the use
of using birds of prey, especially
peregrine falcons, to scare birds from
the airfield, Sir Peter Scott who was
not only the founder of the now
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust but
also deeply involved in the wider
international conservation movement
heard about this use of peregrines.
RNAS Yeovilton bird control vehicle and methods © Crown
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015