Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia - Diputación Foral de Bizkaia

Falconry is employed to frighten away gulls.

The method consists of flying birds of prey, which are potentially dangerous for seagulls, over the affected areas, causing them to abandon the area immediately.

It is necessary to work with the falcons on a continuous basis in order to prevent the seagulls from returning. A female Harris falcon (Parabuteo unicinctus superior) has been trained on the Jata landfill. This bird weighs from 750 to 810 grams (hunting weight).

Harris Falcon(Parabuteo unicinctus)

Native to the American continent, it is found between the United States and Arentina, nainly in Central America and desert areas. Like most birds of prey, the male is smaller than the female. A peck from its powerful beak can be very painful.

It is a very social bird, which allows it to hunt in pairs or even small groups. It is also more intelligent than many birds of prey.

It stalks its prey with skill and when this has been located, it begins a prolonged vertical dive during which this bird scarcely beats its wings, it just soars.

The taming of this bird of prey, and its training and subsequent initiation in hunting techniques, has been carried out by a qualified company with long experienece in handling this kind of animal (Euskal-Falcon, S.L., inigo.zuberogoitia@wanadoo.es).

The method used by Garbiker to scare the seagulls away from the Jata landfill (Lemoiz) does not involve any risk deriving from an uncontrolled reduction of their population, as this is based on dissuasion.
The mere presence of the falcon is enough for the gulls to decide not to risk entering the landfill and to return to their natural sources of nutrition once again.