Town Hires Hawks to Hunt Pesky Grackles

Mar. 3, 2008— -- Grackles are loud, messy and migratory birds that are scaring away tourists and residents from trendy areas in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

It's not exactly a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds," in which humans were running for their lives — but people certainly are ducking for cover.

"You have to be very careful walking under the trees or you will get hit [by droppings]," says Betty Cornick, who was taking her two grandchildren, Katie and Molly, for a walk downtown recently.

Business leaders and city officials are spending money to try to get rid of the abundant birds, which forage for whatever food they can find.

Two years ago, citizens were permitted to fire cannons and loud pyrotechnic devices to try to scare away the birds. It was colorful and exciting, but the birds kept coming back.

The city then hired Rodney Beaman of Fort Worth Pest and Termite Services. He has four workers with special lasers who come every night to scare away the birds. The lasers do not harm the grackles, and city leaders say the plan is working.

But passerby Jeff Lucas took one look at the lasers and said, "Scare the birds off and as soon as they leave the birds are back."

So the city is now considering using a natural predator to get rid of the grackles, which are similar to blackbirds but larger with a longer tail.

Jeff Cattor owns three hawks and a company called "Nighthawk Bird Control."

He demonstrated how a hawk named "Blackjack" could capture a grackle in seconds, and Cattor says when grackles see a hawk, "It is similar to you and me swimming on a beach off the coast of Texas and seeing a shark fin."

The grackles are so terrified that they do not return, Cattor said.