Keeping birds out of places we humans don’t want them to be has always been an inexact science.
No more than these pictures demonstrate from Valdez, Alaska where a owl decoy is supposed to be keeping Arctic Terns away from a entrance to a boat dock area.
Notice the eggs in the second picture. NOT exactly working!
These pictures are from Jay Holcomb, IBRRC’s Executive Director, who is in Valdez this week working on a big oil spill drill with bird rescue’s Alaska representative, Barbara Callahan.
However, bird hazing is serious business in oil spill response. So much so that the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) and the California Department of Fish and Game came out last year with a Bird Hazing Manual: Techniques and Strategies for Dispersing Birds from Spill Sites. You can download it here
I think most birds have become ‘wise’ to the owl trick now!