Operation Hawk demonstration set for Jamison Square

Chances are the crows are already squawking about it

Hawks take to the sky at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Jamison Square, where onlookers can watch falconers guide trained raptors around the park.

Chase McPherson, executive director of the Northwest Community Conservancy, will be there. He’s leading the charge to hire a falconer to disperse the large flocks of crows roosting in the Pearl District using a Harris’s Hawk.

The fledgling crow abatement program, managed by Integrated Avian Solutions, would cost $48,000 annually. About $20,000 more needs to be raised to support a full season of crow abatement.

“People will get to see hawks up close and personal Wednesday,” said McPherson, “and to ask questions and see how falconers do what they do.”

Integrated Avian Solutions was hired by Downtown Clean & Safe to break up flocks of crows downtown. In the Pearl crows tend to group around lower blocks with trees and in places like Jamison Square.

McPherson has learned that falconry is more art than science, almost low-key. “The falconers just drive around and see where the crows are congregating that evening, then get out and walk around with their hawk” until sending the bird out and back using snacks as the reward.

One experienced falconer, Kort Clayton, told McPherson, “crows go where they go. I don’t control the crows.”

Clayton also told McPherson that crows recognize his face even when he’s out without a hawk on his arm. Recently, a crow at Jamison Square spotted Clayton and began angrily squawking. Soon, about 30 more joined in.

We may love crows but in large numbers their droppings are a consistent urban problem, McPherson said. “People don’t want to have to use an umbrella.” Dog owners have complained of pets tracking it indoors and in some cases getting sick after licking their paws. “That’s a big concern,” McPherson said. “Last January it was very dry and there was no rain to wash it off the sidewalks. They also peck at insulation around pipes for their nests, and if you get a frozen pipe that can’t get very expensive. ”

At sunset hawks have a tactical advantage over crows.

“When it’s light out, crows will be aggressive against the hawk. It’s different in the evening. Crows can’t see well -- and they know that the hawk can, so it’s literally fight or flight,” McPherson said.

To people concerned about the crows, McPherson says that the hawk doesn’t attack or dive-bomb them. “We’re not trying to get rid of the crows. We’re breaking up the density of the crows. There’s still going to be plenty of crows.”

Micah Meskel of Bird Alliance Oregon says large crow shows “are pretty spectacular, and it’s free entertainment.” His group has been monitoring the crow abatement program downtown to make sure it adheres to best practices and said, “they’re only hazing crows in high-concentration areas, like the transit mall, where the fecal matter is a slipping concern.”

Meskel agreed this can be done in a way that doesn’t harm the crows,

“The hawk spooks them and disperses them without having any contact. The goal should not be to keep them out but to periodically disperse them.”

As already established, crows are tricky. “They’ll disperse temporarily and return after the threat is gone,” said Meskel. They’re also good cleaners, he added. “They’re omnivores and snacking on everything, and a lot of that is trash, so they’re keeping infestation levels of rats down.”

Asked if people ever try to domesticate crows, Meskel said, “too often people attempt to do that. It leads to the imprinting of that bird so we always try to explain that people should let wildlife be wildlife.” He also cautions against feeding crows. “It habituates them to that. It may be well-intentioned, but it would be better for them if you planted native plants.”

The abundance of crows flocking to our urban landscape is dramatic and awe-inspiring. Many people enjoy simply experiencing them for what they are.

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