When seagulls began terrorizing beachgoers in Ocean City, New Jersey, the town turned to an unlikely candidate to help police the bird crime: trained falcons.
These incredible birds scare off seagulls that would otherwise spend their days nosediving into your ice cream cone. The full picture opens up a truly wild story.
The City’s New Enforcers
Ocean City uses trained falcons through a company called East Coast Falcons to control the beach’s seagull problem.
According to reporting by NJ Monthly, Mayor Jay Gillian witnessed a seagull steal a slice of pizza from a toddler—right out of the stroller—in 2019 and knew right then that something had to be done. The city tried multiple methods to no avail before stumbling on falconry as a potential solution. They never looked back.
This led Ocean City to a contract with East Coast Falcons, led by master falconer Erik Swanson. The company deploys a rotating cast of trained birds of prey, according to Outside, including Harris’s Hawks named Marco, Polo, and Karen, and Ozzy, a Eurasian Eagle Owl.
Like Batman in Gotham City, the birds patrol the Ocean City beaches and boardwalk from Memorial Day through Labor Day, keeping pesky seagulls away from visitors. The birds work in shifts and are kept hooded, blocking their sight, right up until it’s time to head out on patrol. Removing the hood is their signal that it’s go-time.
The method actually works. Despite their reputation, seagulls are smart birds. They’re well-accustomed to crowds of people, know exactly when to strike, and can spot a hot dog they’re eyeing from a couple hundred feet away.
They’re so comfortable around large crowds that nothing else worked: fishing line, plastic owls, and jarring noises among them. But trained birds of prey flying overhead does the trick. It resets their comfort level and keeps their genuine knack for nuisance at bay.
Ocean City has no complaints about their seagull-control methods. They’ve signed a contract with East Coast Falcons through 2029, and reportedly paid nearly $370,000 for falcon patrol this summer alone.
The Case of Trico
The policy hasn’t come without some obstacles.
In June, a bird working with East Coast Falcons named Trico went missing during a shift when his electronic tracker failed, according to a post on Reddit.
This led to weeks of searching. Posts in Facebook groups, reported sightings, but ultimately, Trico was lost, and the falconers questioned whether he’d ever return.
That was until an employee at the nearby Shore Medical Center noticed a large bird perched on a fourth-floor window. They remembered seeing a post about a missing bird in the area, and immediately began making calls. Naturally, a falconer with the group showed up, stood on a ledge with a whistle and a lure, and Trico flew right to her. Reunited at last.
In an interview with NJ.com, Swanson said that the hospital offered everything Trico could hope for in an extended stay: shaded ledges, water, and plenty of his favorite foods like sparrow, crow, and pigeon. “Trico was pretty fat when we got him back,” he said.
Even Superheroes Go Rogue
Even after cracking the code, Ocean City’s most reliable line of defense against seagulls can occasionally go rogue. Trico’s month-long absence is proof that even highly trained birds still answer to their own instinct.
But that’s a feature, not a bug. Falconry works so well in policing the city’s seagull problem because of the bird’s predatory nature—and Ocean City is willing to pay top dollar to keep these amazing creatures around to keep doing what they’re doing.
Next time you head to the Ocean City boardwalk, you can thank a falcon—or a Harris’s Hawk, or a Eurasian Eagle Owl—for being able to finish your funnel cake in peace, without fending off annoying seagulls.
As for Trico, he returned to work the very next day.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
