Falconry couple keeping pigeons out of downtown Detroit

A local couple carrying a hawk and a falcon are scaring away pigeons near Campus Martius.

Driving the news: Bedrock Detroit hired ScAir Force Falconry & Bird Abatement, owned by Paul and Terese Thomas, to keep pigeons from pooping on the side of its buildings ahead of the NFL Draft, Paul Thomas of ScAir Force tells Axios.

How it works: Thomas and his wife demonstrated their practice by walking toward a flock of pigeons playing a distress call and showing them the hawk, which flaps its wings while perched on its handler.

What they're saying: "It's kind of like when you go to the beach and people yell 'shark, shark!'" Thomas says. "About 10,000 starlings were nesting on this building a couple weeks ago before we got here."

• "They would poop down the side and they were power washing it but two days later it looked like nothing was done. You'd have 3 inches of poop on the sidewalks."

Bottom line: Thomas says it takes about a month for pigeons to learn they aren't welcome and stop returning.

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