The eyes in the sky that drive away pest birds and predators at 300kph

The rooftop of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). 

The home straight at Flemington Racecourse. 

An offshore mining rig, an orchard, an airport.

These are the workplaces of Sabrina, a 28-year-old wedge-tailed eagle, and her owner Graeme Coles.

Her job: crowd control.

Soaring above her worksites, Sabrina’s mere presence is enough to move on the hundreds of seagulls, long-billed corellas, cockatoos and other gathering flocks to their natural habitats.

By deterring pest birds, the bird of prey is providing a natural solution to pest control.

“My small team and I have taken birds – including falcons, goshawks, eagles and even owls – to offshore rigs, mining sites, airports, racetracks and even the MCG and Australian Open tennis,” Mr Coles said.

Mr Coles’s research into raptors for pest control in agricultural systems is also proving a winner with farmers who have given up on gas guns and decoys.

Government departments have called on Mr Coles’s experienced, winged eyes in the sky.

Controlling pest birds in non-lethal way

By tapping into the natural fear response in prey species when a predator raptor is introduced into their environment, Mr Coles and his research partners at Federation University have gained valuable data into the ancient technique of falconry.

“Falconry is very, very old, but in Australia there is no data,” Mr Coles said.

“Overseas in places like California, they use falconers a lot to control wildlife around vineyards and stone fruit orchards.”

Mr Coles said the technique was an ethical way of controlling pest birds in an effective, non-lethal way.

He is also researching using eagles to control foxes in rural areas.

“Not that one eagle is going to make a big difference to the fox population, but it’s about making people aware that eagles are very valuable in the rural landscape, not necessarily the enemy,” he said.

“They take a lot of ravens, rabbits and foxes out of productive farmland to the benefit of the ecosystem and the production system.”

While it is illegal to use birds of prey to kill wildlife in Australia, Mr Coles’s raptors are trained to move the feathered foes on without harm to predator or prey.

Modern falconry an ancient art

The remarkable bond between raptor and handler — and a desire to educate the public about the importance of the birds to the natural environment — has fuelled Mr Coles’s passion for more than 50 years.

At the age of five he was given an injured harrier hawk to look after, and a couple of years later had the opportunity to rehabilitate another.

“There was something primitive about it that I just loved and I wanted to learn everything I could about raptors,” he said.

“But falconry and conservation of raptors in New Zealand, where I come from, was very rare to find locally.

“I remember going to the local library and there was one falconry book in a restricted space. 

“That was all the literature I had. So I just winged it.”

Raptor research critical as numbers decline

According to Birds SA raptor specialist Ian Falkenberg, despite their reputation as avian royalty, raptors are under threat.

“There are 36 Australian raptors, but they have come under pressure in recent decades,” he said.

Mr Falkenberg said loss of habitat, reduced prey — including reptiles, small mammals and feral pests like rabbits — and more recently, bird flu, had led to anecdotal reductions across all species.

“Birds SA has invested significantly in habitat restoration and conservation, and having just been out to our Gluepot reserve in northern South Australia, it’s pleasing to see raptors, among other birds, returning to inland and pastoral parts of the country,” he said.

“The community is also valuing the presence of raptors in the environment today, whereas in years gone by, farmers would have only viewed eagles as a threat to lambs.

“Now they are seeing the value in their ability to deter foxes.”

Today, Mr Coles’s conservation and research is centred at his sanctuary, Full Flight Birds of Prey, at Miners Rest outside Ballarat, Victoria, which he established as a non-profit charity when he was 16.

Among the aviaries and vast enclosures, Mr Coles and his wife Kathy, along with a small team of raptor enthusiasts, have about 60 birds under license, including 12 species of raptor.

The birds are part of breeding programs with established ties to wildlife parks and conservation groups around the country.

Natural instinct and human connection

While Mr Coles concedes that raptors are not known to be as personable as household birds, the bond between raptor and handler can be remarkable.

“Falconry is an ancient skill dating back at least 3,000 years, and while raptors don’t show a lot of personality on the surface, they do if you dig deep,” he said.

“They develop this amazing affiliation with their owners.

“That being said, there’s no denying raptors are killing machines, so in training as in life, everything revolves around survival for them: hunting, ambush and being extremely quick.”

In modern falconry, trainers use GPS to monitor birds in flight, but most of the training is still rooted in traditional methods of tapping into natural instinct.

However, that can come with its challenges.

Take Sabrina, who enjoys watching David Attenborough documentaries and cricket matches in the lounge room with Mr Coles.

“She’s a doll. We have an amazing connection … but she hates my wife,” he laughed.

“So if I’m flying Sabrina, then my wife has to be inside. They’re a monogamous animal and she sees my wife as a threat to the pecking order, so we have to be a bit careful.”