'Eagle eyes' owl, falcons swoop in to keep metal 'birds' airborne

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
In addition to the giant metal birds flying in and out of RAF Mildenhall every day, it's not unusual to see a Harris hawk, Peregrine or Lanner falcon, or on occasion, even an Eagle owl, swooping around the airfield.

These birds of prey are vital tools in RAF Mildenhall's bird aircraft strike hazard program, keeping aircraft and aircrew safe and flocks of other birds down in number.

Owned by Keith Mutton, Phoenix Bird Control is contracted to patrol the runways of RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath 24/7, 365 days a year. Eleven people work for the company, and they cover both bases here in East Anglia and RAF Fairford.

The employees have birds they own and for which they are responsible. Mutton, from Sedge Fen near Brandon, Suffolk, has more than 20, including owls, hawks and falcons. He uses some regularly on the airfield, for displays and factory work, and others as breeding birds.

One of his most famous birds, often seen at base events throughout the year and patrolling the airfield of RAF Lakenheath by night, is Twinkle, an Eagle owl.

Her sister, Biggles, works on RAF Mildenhall and, like Twinkle, silently goes about her business at night, scaring away birds and other pests, keeping aircraft and aircrew safe in the skies.

At 26 years old, Twinkle is one of the oldest birds of prey Mutton owns. He bred her specifically for the bird control program. While he has his own breeding program for his birds of prey, he has also purchased birds from known and trusted specialist breeders.

Perched on the hand of her owner, the Eagle owl looks huge - she has a wingspan of 5 feet - but weighs just 7 pounds. What she lacks in weight, she more than makes up for in stealth, and don't forget her sharp beak and talons.

Alan Marenghi, Mutton's step-son, from Martham near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, owns three falcons and two hawks and is also one of the regular bird control specialists working on RAF Mildenhall.

Throughout the year, large groups of starlings, jackdaws, rooks and crows can cause a problem for the flightline; in winter, large flocks of seagulls also present a hazard.

Besides using the birds of prey, other methods of scaring away birds include pyrotechnics; a dummy launcher, which shoots out a projectile; and falconry lure (a feathered decoy attached to a long cord, which is swung around to recall the bird of prey.) As a last resort, the Phoenix employees also use shotguns and air rifles.

Phoenix also has a bioacoustic system in their vans, which lets out a distress call. The system can be set to let out the sound of a particular type of bird in distress.

"Our main deterrent is the falcons," Marenghi explained. "Rooks and crows are very bright; they get used to all the other methods - which don't present a real danger - and the birds get to realize that. But they can't get used to a falcon as an active predator; it's out there and can move towards them - if they don't move out of the way, it will attack them."

Marenghi said he compares the birds' response to a falcon with a human's response to a predator.

"If you regularly went to a shopping center and kept hearing a bang, or seeing pyrotechnics on the same day, or at the same time, on a regular basis, you'd end up ignoring it," he said. "But if a lion was in there, you wouldn't go in - ever!"

Birds of prey are a very effective control measure for the type of birds frequenting the airfield at RAF Mildenhall, said Capt. Erika Palmer, 100th Air Refueling Wing Flight Safety officer, from Colorado Springs, Colo.

"Phoenix Bird Control provides RAF Mildenhall a 24/7 service that's crucial to continuing our flying operations," she said. "They have a 10-minute response time to reports of bird concentrations on the field, enabling operations to pause while they are cleared, rather than ending training early - or even worse, preventing accomplishment of operational missions.

The flight safety officer explained airfield managers report the bird watch condition as low, moderate or severe, each of which have different impacts to flying missions.

"The other night, we had a jet accomplishing touch-and-go landings in order to mission-certify a pilot newly arrived on station," Palmer said. "The patterns were interrupted by a 'BWC Moderate' call, but (they) were able to successfully finish training after 15 minutes, because Phoenix Bird Control quickly responded and cleared the hazard from the airfield. They are critical to mishap prevention, saving the 100th ARW money and time on the maintenance and replacement of aircraft engines after bird ingestion, or damage caused by impact to the skin of aircraft."

Mutton has worked in bird control on Mildenhall and Lakenheath bases for the last 39 years, and has owned Phoenix Bird Control since 1997. He's been a falconer for 46 years.

"I began at 8 years old," he said. "Around that age I also had pigeons as pets; as far as I can remember, I've always had an interest in wildlife and birds. I can remember wanting to be a falconer at a very early age - around 7 years old. It seemed quite natural, and the interest became deeper as I grew up. I can't imagine ever doing anything else."

The majority of the birds are hand-reared and arrive with the bird control specialists when they are about 10 days old.

"You can actually start training them when they are still inside the egg, by using a whistle," said Marenghi. "From about 10 days old (the chicks) go everywhere with you - home, work, in the car or van, and on the flightline to get used to the aircraft - in a plastic box. When they eat, food is placed in the box and you blow a whistle, so they get to associate the sound with food."

Once the young birds start flying, their handlers pick a quiet time to let them out on their own.

Marenghi explained that every stage of their development takes place on the airfield, so the birds come to look at it as their territory.

"Next we get them used to flying from the vehicle, then chasing birds, which is their natural instinct," he said. "Most birds are trained primarily to scare rather than kill; then they come back to the vehicle and get rewarded with food."

Doing this means the birds of prey can cover a long distance rapidly, thereby getting rid of flocks of birds quickly, so as not to damage aircraft.

"Birds are attracted to this area because we're surrounded by farm fields and the Fens, which offer rich food and water sources," Palmer said. "Additionally, we have a large gull population as we are closer to the sea and coastline than many people realize. Phoenix Bird Control tries to make the airfield as unsuitable for birds and other animals as possible."

The U.S. Air Force has always been very receptive to Phoenix's ideas and they have worked closely together to make the program what it is today, Mutton said.

"It's led to what I consider to be a very strong and unique program which is, to my knowledge, the longest running program of its type in the world," he said. "This is something of which we are very proud."