The Other Hawk-Eye at Croke Park
So many elements go into making an All-Ireland final at Croke Park.
Of course, there are the players, the game itself and the fans, but behind that a small army of people work hard to ensure that the finals are special days for everyone.
The last things fans want to see is a pitch made patchy due to pigeons flying in and eating all the grass seeds, or seagulls swooping down from the sky to pinch the sandwich out of their hands.
Birds in the stadium can also soil the seats and, on match days, drag rubbish out of the ground and drop it around the local area, causing a litter problem.
Croke Park authorities have thought of every eventuality and to ensure that neither of these things happens they have taken an innovative approach.
Three days a week and again on match day Barry Nolan from Wildlife Management Services and two of his harris hawks visit the stadium to scare off any unwanted flying visitors.
“The two main species that could cause problems up here are feral pigeons, number one, and gulls, predominantly herring gulls,” explained Barry.
“It’s two very different problems — the herring gulls come into the stadium after matches because of the food and waste leftover after such a big sporting event. In Croke Park the cleaning starts straight away after the matches so the food is only there for a limited time.
“The gulls have worked out that they can get that food in the one-to-two-hour period after the game so we work to create a hostile environment so the gulls leave and the clean-up gets done.
“There’s a lot of seeding that goes on on the pitch here and it’s a high quality, highly nutritious feed for the pigeons who are usually feeding on bread and rubbish in the city.
“They flock up here and feed on the seed so what we do is fly the hawks and keep them away from the pitch, away from the food source. It’s an ongoing battle with them.”
Harris hawks are native to South America, but the adapt well to Irish conditions. Kayla is a one-year-old female and Alfie a male eight-year-old, with the female generally three times bigger than the male. They can live up to 25 years if well looked after.
Kayla and Alfie were bred in captivity in Ireland and Nolan has the necessary licenses to own and fly such birds of prey. His company also fly several other species, depending on the job requirements.
Croke Park authorities actually encourages some types of wildlife within its stands and this year they were delighted when a pair of ravens mated and hatched four chicks behind the giant screen at the Canal End of the ground.
They were able to keep a careful eye on them using CCTV, though not all feathered friends are welcome.
“Croke Park has a long-running sustainability project in the stadium and the greater community when we generate waste here in the stadium we want to keep it in the stadium,” said Martha Smithers, Stadium Sustainability Manager.
“The harris hawks stops the gulls taking the waste out of the stadium.”
