Feathered security guard patrols Toronto landfill

Written By Peter Allan

Falconer Keegan Rollinson works with a six-year-old peregrine falcon named No-name to scatter gulls at the green lane landfill. Photo by: Abdul Matin Sarfraz/ Canada's National Observer

By Abdul Matin Sarfraz

A bird with no name hovers daily over mountains of waste at a Toronto landfill — as flocks of gulls flee in every direction.

Toronto sends hundreds of thousands of tonnes of garbage to the Green Lane landfill every year, where the waste attracts hundreds of gulls that can spread to nearby communities and fall sick themselves from eating garbage.

To manage the problem, a six-year-old peregrine falcon called No-name is flown several times a day. She scatters flocks of up to 700 gulls without hunting them — her presence alone is enough to clear the sky.

“It’s a very eco-friendly way to manage the seagulls,” said falconer Keegan Rollinson, who works with No-name to deter the gulls. “The bird gets to behave as her natural self.”

Landfills use many methods to keep scavenger birds away. Common tactics include noise cannons and propane “bird bangers.” Some sites use kites, balloons, reflective tape or netting and wires over waste areas. Others rely on hazers that release irritating mist, sound systems with deterrent calls or lasers.

The city says predatory birds have been used at Green Lane for more than two decades as “a proven, eco-friendly way to manage nuisance birds, such as gulls.”

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