July 30, 2007
In addition to his trusty falcon and hawk, falconer Robert Musters of Enschede now has a new bird of prey in his cote to help control the nuisance caused by foraging birds. This new creature, which goes by the name of Shikra, is not made of flesh and blood but rather of balsawood, synthetic fibres and metals: it is a robot bird.
On Monday, 30 July, Robert gave a demonstration of his mechanical bird for interested members of the press on Twence’s Boeldershoek site, where he also works with his real raptors.
The use of falcons to control the nuisance caused by birds is interesting for Twence. These animals forage for food on the landfill when work activities are being carried out. And they carry off refuse far into the surrounding area. Hunting of some birds is not permitted, because they are protected. But chasing them away, for example by means of falcons, is allowed. The only problem is that the birds of prey are of no use during their yearly moulting season. For those periods, the robot bird offers a good alternative.
Musters has worked for three years on his mechanical bird. He is already at the point  where his ‘creature’ can fly through the air, flapping its wings like a real bird. Now the falconer is going to build a successor that will look quite a bit more like the real thing. But that’s not even necessary for the birds: they already have a holy fear of Shikra.
Robert and his bird Shikra amidst the interested journalists.
|
