Some have soft-sounding names like Juliet, Pablo, Ivan, Tally, Remy and Dante. Others bring to mind warriors or super heroes: Apache, Attila, Mav, Flash and Baron.
The faces behind the names have hooked beaks. Their toes are flesh-piercing talons.
They are falcons, hawks and one nasty bald eagle named Ivan. They work at Pearson International Airport, from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset.
As “employees” of Falcon Environmental Services, they are charged with frightening away nuisance birds, eating them if necessary, so they don’t wind up in airplane engines. Their payoff for a job well done? A tasty hunk of raw quail served by hand. ....
Interesting stuff, as far as it goes, but but near the end of the article...
For larger nuisance birds, such as geese, Shevalier relies on a five-year-old golden Lab, Tucker. Even as big as Ivan is, even the bald eagle won’t take on an aggressive goose.
Oops. Memory didn't serve me well.