The 18-year-old one-eyed
peregrine merlin has a very special job
Meet the special bird that has
been keeping the skies of Cornwall safe for flyers
for the last 18 years. This is a peregrine merlin cross-breed affectionately
named Oddbod by staff at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose at Helston.
Despite being blind in one eye,
Oddbod is an exceptional bird, having reached his 18 birthday on Monday (June
4). Most peregrine merlins only live up to 15 years.
He is part of a team of birds
which are used to keep the runways at RNAS Culdrose safe by scaring aware wild
birds which could be a danger to aircraft.
Culdrose has its own Airfield
Wildlife Control Unit, designated in typical Naval fashion by the abbreviation
AWCU.
Sahra-Lee Thomas, the AWCU
supervisor, said: “Birds are the biggest threat to arriving and departing
aircraft and the unit proactively uses pyrotechnics, recorded bird distress
calls and birds of prey to move wild birds away from the runways and
manoeuvering areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment