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On The Strip, Birds Of Prey Help With Pigeon Control

An African red-headed falcon owned by Airborne Wildlife Control Service.
Photo by Donovan Resh

An African red-headed falcon owned by Airborne Wildlife Control Service.

In Las Vegas, pigeons are everywhere. And they’re very difficult to control. 

 

They seem to have some kind of car-avoidance system that keeps them from getting run over. Fake owls, even with robotic moving heads, don’t scare them. 

 

And on the Strip, resorts consider them a major nuisance, as they cover everything from buildings to people in droppings. 

 

No one’s figured out how to get rid of them entirely. But raptors, birds of prey like hawks, are being used to scare them off — not eat them.

(Editor's Note: This interview originally aired August 2019)

Civon Gewelber, owner, Airborne Wildlife Control Services

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Kristy Totten is a producer at KNPR's State of Nevada. Previously she was a staff writer at Las Vegas Weekly, and has covered technology, education and economic development for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She's a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism.