Group hopes to employ Operation Hawk to scare off crows

Northwest Community Conservancy seeks $48,000 for abatement program

Super high-speed flash captures wings and feathers in flight as crows make their way through the Pearl District. Photo montage by Walden Kirsch.

Caw, caw, caw.

Love ‘em or hate them, the crows are back.

Recently the Northwest Community Conservancy, a security and livability nonprofit, announced a campaign to raise funds to use urban falconry to solve the crow issue.

Crows appear to favor city blocks with relatively lower buildings, where they can swoop in and circle around in their preferred corridors before posting up in treetops.

I was astonished when I moved into my apartment last fall. The first morning my view went dark as a menacing cloud of crows flew past. The cat flattened itself against the floor and silently screamed ‘what is happening?’

This year, we’re old friends. I can set my alarm by their morning arrival. Around 7 a.m., I hear the scout. An army follows. I know to seek cover at dusk or early morning if outside and to wear a hoodie to avoid a downpour of crow droppings. Parked cars are a preferred target, the darker the better.

Back to the abatement plan. Chase McPherson of NWCC said in a news release that Harris’s hawks (it’s OK to drop the apostrophes and say ‘Harris hawk,’ but purists hate it) would be the key operatives in the Pearl’s crow abatement program, just like the one operating in downtown Portland. The seasonal cost of Operation Hawk is about $48,000 and NWCC is asking building residents, businesses and community members to pledge toward that sum. Curious to see how that flies with people already feeling strapped by the cost of just about everything.

It’s true that Harris’s hawks have successfully swept crows from downtown Portland, which may make a better case for needing them now in the Pearl. Plus, spotting a hawk and falconer in downtown Portland is a fun, unexpected nature encounter. Surprisingly easygoing, the hawks perch on a falconer’s glove and allow you to get up close for a look. When they are set loose to fly their beat, the agile birds enter the air space and haze the crows. Crows, with their innate fear of a live raptor in their midst, move onto somewhere safer.

A flock of crows flying past the Pearl District’s Elizabeth Lofts building at Northwest Ninth and Everett streets. Slow-motion video by Walden Kirsch.

Harris’s hawks’ social nature has been attributed to their intelligence, which makes them easy to train and has made them a popular bird for use in falconry.