Falcon patrol
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Mia, a 5-year-old Harris hawk at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif. Hedin, is a subcontractor for Airstrike Bird Control, a falcon-based bird abatement company, Oct. 28, 2013.
Falconry
Hedin, is a subcontractor for Airstrike Bird Control, a falcon-based bird abatement company. The landfill in Brea hired the falconer to fly his birds of prey to scare away seagulls.
The landfill has declared war on the nuisance birds, but rather than using air cannons or high-tech scarecrows, it's fighting fliers with fliers.
Falconry
The dump, located on a plateau high above suburban Orange County, is part of an explosion in falconry for profit in recent years, with one-time hobbyists launching their raptors into the skies above vineyards, farms, landfills, shopping complexes and golf courses nationwide.
Falconry
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Mia, a 5-year-old Harris hawk at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.
The number of professional falconers nationwide is tiny, but recent changes in federal guidelines have nevertheless created a niche industry that's growing rapidly and changing the dynamics of a sport that dates back millennia.
Since 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has granted 99 special permits to use captive-bred birds of prey for "bird abatement" to chase away avian pests such as starlings, grackles and seagulls.
Falconry
Mia, a 5-year-old Harris hawk eats a bit of meat after working at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.
Falconry
Companies from California to Texas promise a no-kill, natural solution to cities bedeviled by bird droppings, wineries plagued by grape-snatchers and landfills harassed by gulls that can carry rotten bits of refuse miles from the dump before dropping them in suburban yards.
Falconry
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Mia, a 5-year-old Harris hawk at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.
Some animal rights activists worry the practice exploits the birds and could attract unscrupulous people into a small sporting community that is largely self-policed.
The falconers insist that they are focused on scaring, not killing, birds. They apprentice for years with no pay before getting a license allowing them to use their birds for profit-making purposes. Most still hunt with their raptors in the wild primarily as a sport, not a business.
Falconry
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Zoe, a 1-year-old Lanner falcon, at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.
Most businesses that have hired falconers say the raptors have succeeded where other solutions have failed.
Falconry
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Mia, a 5-year-old Harris hawk at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.
In Southern California, Orange County used Hedin for a trial program at the landfill and then added falconry at two more sites after spending years trying to chase away gulls using air cannons, recorded distress cries, balloons painted with pictures of hawks and a jerry-rigged system of wires hanging in the air.
Falconry
Daniel Hedin, 28, works Elros, a saker falcon, at the Olinda Alpha landfill in Brea, Calif.