Defending the Kremlin: Hawks, Falcons and Owls in Service
by Iliia Pitalev for Sputnik News
It is unbelievable, but true: birds help defend the Kremlin.
Kremlin officials use hawks, falcons and even owls to scare off crows that spoil the building’s golden domes in the heart of Moscow. Moreover, crows hunt singing birds at the Kremlin and even damage the uniforms of the Kremlin guards. So it’s no surprise that government officials have decided to use hawks and falcons against the crows. The hawks start their work early in the morning, while there are no tourists in the Kremlin. When crows see the hawks they prefer to fly away from the Kremlin walls.
Nice bird!Beautiful creation of God ! Owls on the other hand are able fly in complete silence or stealth. They are the only animal that can do so as far as I know. It is in the engineering of their wing feathers. So rodents beware !! God Knows Best !
Most birds fly silently. It has to do with wing flapping frequency. Faster they flap, generally the more noise they make.
The comment section here has really degraded.
Are you implying, it’s for the birds?
Hi vt,
owls actually have a unique feather design which reduces noise. They also have a really weird neck feature that rotates 180 degrees in either direction. Lets them stay on target.
Some good vids on the net somewhere.
It was 3 am on a freezing December night. No clue why I had woken up. But there I was, standing at the open window in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette. No cars, no nothing, glorious silence.
And then I saw it: an impressive, huge owl sitting majestically, perfectly motionless and barely visible on the tree maybe 4, 5 meters away from me, on the other side of the street.
Instantly I had a complete download of all the ancient legends & lore surrounding this majestic bird. It’s aura was spell-binding, it’s energetic imprint on the local space-time continuum overwhelming. Watching it, I felt a rush of pure bliss shooting up my spine, and behold: with the tiniest of muscle movements, as in super slow motion, the bird took off, unfolding its marvelous strong, wide wings, and with a single utterly soundless whoosh… was gone!
The branch on which it had been sitting didn’t move a single millimeter, no rustling of leaves. Forever gone, I knew it, but I knew too, never would I forget this encounter of the third kind with the bird of birds.
Well, If my grandmother spotted one near the house, she would not rest until owl is gone, preferably, as far a possible. Old folk believe if owl sits on the your roof, someone is going to kick the bucket. Now, a friend of mine told me amusing story, when an owl visited his neighborhood, and created quite of panic among elders, so they chased poor birth all night long.
Cheers to bird lovers!
Especially owls from Strix family makes very spooky calls. Grandma told me how my grandgrandfather had been once scared by them. Strix has distinctive call “puuuid puuuid” (it’s like ” come… come…”). Old man, ailing WW1 veteran thought that he has been called to grave. Actually this happened shortly before his death.
Moral of the story: Same like with black cats, relax and be nice to them. Fear is what hurts you.
Seeing owls around? Consider building them a box.
A
You’re right:
Owl Feathers & Flight
https://www.owlpages.com/owls/articles.php?a=7
Apologies for the nasty comment. The degradation of the comment section this time was due to my stupidity.
They can hunt small pesky drones as well.
what a gorgeous contribution today dear Saker, this is so special – the look that guy has towards his bird is so beautiful.
I love it.
Here is the source article with more photos of the falcons and owl.
https://sputniknews.com/photo/201712091059848331-kremlin-falconry-photos/
Crows and Owls have an ancestral, age old, feuding grudge ongoing so to pit owls against crows? Hey, the owls are all probably special force volunteers.
Falcons take the high road always, but just as deadly and super fast wide area hunters.
Regardless of which side you are on when it comes to crows vs. raptors, for a good laff break don’t miss this classic: “A Bird You Can Count On.”
https://www.utne.com/community/countoncrows
Katherine
Lovely looking birds and good photography.
I used to enjoy seeing a kite hovering whilst driving to work from Geelong to Melbourne in the morning. Then on occasions whilst driving in the Western District one could see a couple of wedgetails gliding high on a thermal.
Crows though I do not like as they attack my pigeons, steal the eggs and kill the squeakers.