"Hungry hawks a nuisance at Canadian airport"

Friday, August 22, 2003

Hungry hawks a nuisance at Y'knife airport 
Canada - CBC North


YELLOWKNIFE - An unusual number of small hawks are hanging around
Yellowknife's airport, causing problems for aviators.

Airport officials have been shooing American kestrels off the runways.

The birds, also called sparrow hawks, have been eating grasshoppers living
in the grassy areas of the airport.

A hawk was sucked into a jet engine this week, stopping a flight and causing
thousands of dollars in damage.

"We know during the migration period that we will get ducks, geese and
sandhill cranes," says Michel Lafrance, the airport manager. "We know
seagulls have a daily routine. They will fly in, fly out to the dump. We
have ravens."

"So we can anticipate or even predict bird activity at the airport. But this
time kestrels have taken us a bit by surprise."

Lafrance says the kestrels will soon migrate south for the winter.

Until that time, airport staff will continue to scare the kestrels and other
birds off the runways several times a day.

Earlier in August the Whitehorse airport brought in a noisemaker cannon, in
order to scare problem gulls away from the tarmac. Like the kestrels, the
Yukon birds were attracted to the airport by grasshoppers living in the
surrounding grounds.


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