Bustards at 12 O'Clock High

As U.S. jet fighters shattered the Spanish noon last week, a Medieval-looking man patrolled the runway of the joint U.S.-Spanish airbase at Torrejon near Madrid. On his outstretched hand perched a hooded peregrine falcon. A strange place to practice the ancient art of falconry? Not quite: the U.S. Air Force has drafted the regal birds of prey to chase flocks of little bustards that endanger aircraft.

The danger began when hordes of bustards collided with jets darting off the runway. In 1967, they caused a loss of $1,500,000 in damaged aircraft. The Air Force failed to get rid of the pests with rifle fire; harsher remedies (grenades, poison) were rejected because they might kill other wildlife.

In desperation, the Air Force turned to Felix de la Fuente, a naturalist who has revived falconry in Spain. De la Fuente was certain that the falcons would quickly banish the little bustards. Almost two years ago, he trapped six falcons and painstakingly trained them to hunt on command. Since then, the bustards have fled in panic from their natural enemy. Last November only nine bustards were sighted, compared with the 10,415 that stymied operations in November 1967 before the arrival of the hawks. As a result, De la Fuente has returned to his wildlife research, leaving the twice-daily hawk patrols to Technical Sergeant Robert O. Collum, who now has one of the strangest jobs in the U.S. armed services.

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