England - London - Harris Hawk on pigeon pest patrol

Pigeon pest controller, Sue Van Vynck releases Harriet, her Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) to scare away the local pigeon population. The ancient sport of Falconry has become today's humane pest control of choice, particularly as costs falls. Once a pigeon population has been scared away, it requires only a token hawk presence to keep it away. Van Vynck Bird Control is a specialist company providing over 25 years, a range of environmental services dealing with nuisance bird management. They are pioneers of specialist techniques such as the use of predatory species (such as falconry) to displace and interrupt behavioural patterns as well as offering a complete range of physical deterrents. Here at Broadgate the nuisance was pigeons and Harriet leaves Sue's gloved hand to patrol the architecture of this 32 acres (129,499 m2) office and retail space. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)