The staff list of the Moscow Kremlin commandant's office includes two feathered employees - interceptor falcons. In the language of the special services, the responsibilities of these birds are formulated as follows: organizing a system for the bioprotection of the territory and the natural regulation of the crow population
The first thing any foreign tourist notices in Moscow is the dazzling shine of the Kremlin domes. How is it possible to preserve their pristine grandeur? The point here is not only the skillful work of restorers: the gilded roofs of the Kremlin cathedrals are guarded by specially trained interceptor falcons. It turns out that the main enemy of precious gilding is not the harsh climate and city smog, but ordinary crows. According to ornithologists, Moscow crows use the slippery, ice-like leaf tops of cathedrals as a kind of attraction - they slide down them like down a slide, tearing off the gilding with their claws. After a painful, protracted war with feathered vandals, a solution was found: an ornithological special service was created in the Kremlin.
Birds. Almost like Hitchcock
Each new owner of the Kremlin contributed to its arrangement. Perhaps, Leonid Brezhnev went the furthest along this path of all his predecessors, when in 1973 he ordered the allocation of huge budget funds for restoration work on the main residence of the state. True, after the overhaul, the Kremlin shone with its domes for a relatively short time. Crows, attracted by their majestic splendor, flocked to the Kremlin in whole flocks and tore off government gold leaf from the domes with their claws. The Kremlin commandant’s office could not tolerate such disgrace.
Kremlin security officials have been fighting the birds for several years without success. They tried to scare away the crows with the help of blank fire, all kinds of scarecrows and even the howling of a siren. In vain. Smart birds quickly got used to the anti-crow sanctions of the special services and continued to disfigure the domes. The military even designed a “weapon of retaliation”: trap houses with bait were built in the shortest possible time, into which it was possible to fly in, but not to fly out. But the birds saw through this insidious plan.
On the eve of the 1980 Olympics, the then Kremlin commandant Sergei Shornikov finally came up with a plan, according to which it was proposed to use falcons as birds of prey to fight the crows. Specialists came to the aid of restorers and the military, creating an entire ornithological station literally from scratch. In the Tainitsky Garden, closed to visitors, overlooking the embankment of the Moscow River, not far from the guardhouse of the Kremlin regiment and food warehouses, two large aviary cages were built, gyrfalcons and saker falcons (the two most combat-ready species of hunting falcons, reaching a length of 60 centimeters) were placed there and started training potential Kremlin orderlies. At the same time, conscript soldiers and officers of the special Kremlin regiment began to teach the intricacies of falconry.
Fortunately, the very touchy and capricious falcons (beating or punishing vindictive birds during “educational activities” is strictly prohibited) were successfully tamed, and soon they habitually sat on the falconer’s hand, clinging their claws to a special leather glove. Success was not easy, although according to one version, the birds were delivered to the Kremlin after they had already completed initial hunting training, the full course of which usually lasts at least two years.
Be that as it may, the falcons soon cleared the residence of the unwanted bird element. In official language this is called “organizing a system for the bioprotection of the territory and the natural regulation of the crow population.” Hunting technology is not much different from what was used hundreds of years ago. Falcons soar upward sharply, calculating their prey, “dive” under it on a sharp turn and strike, plunging their claws into the enemy. Already on the ground, the feathered employees of the commandant’s office mercilessly finish off the victim. Experts assure that in the crow community, news of the first losses in their ranks spread instantly, and the birds hastily retreated from the protected area.
A falcon is worth its weight in gold
Despite the change of milestones in the Kremlin, the Soviet tradition of falconry has taken root. And today, together with the soldiers of the Kremlin regiment, two birds perform combat service in the commandant’s office - they are officially listed in the staff list. This couple, as the employees assure, is quite enough to terrify all the surrounding birds. One falconry is enough to keep crows flying around the Kremlin for a whole week.
Flights are carried out only when high-ranking residents and visitors to the Kremlin museums leave the Kremlin. After all, no one can predict how an obstinate bird will behave towards strangers. And the hunting instinct of falcons is powerfully developed: foxes and even lambs become their prey in nature. So about once a week, when the Kremlin is empty, not far from the Spasskaya Tower, where the Lenin monument used to be, fighting falcons set off for their difficult duty.
The current combat units were provided to the Kremlin commandant's office by the Yakut nursery about seven years ago. The age of the hunter, as they now say in the Armed Forces, is “supercritical.” According to the informal army classification, they are no longer even “grandfathers”, but “demobes.” Why? Falcons in Russia, thank God, have not disappeared, but domestic ornithologists are extorting prices and prefer to sell their pets to generous Arab sheikhs. However, just the other day the Kremlin “hunting reserve” was replenished with several falcon chicks and, for the first time, hawks, who have yet to complete the “young fighter course.”
Falconry is not a cheap pleasure. In the East, the average period of service for falcons and hawks is no more than two years. And the price of one such nimble bird on the world market ranges from 10 to 150 thousand dollars! According to employees of the Kremlin nursery, the breed of falcon that would be suitable for keeping watch at the residence of the Russian President costs at least 20 thousand dollars.
Since the experiment with the flight of interceptor falcons, scaring away flocks of crows from the protected area, was considered quite successful, additional funds are expected to be allocated from the budget for these purposes in the near future. However, according to experts, much more money would have been spent on cleaning the territory and ancient monuments and restoring the gilding on the domes of the Kremlin churches using other methods.
Denis Babichenko
| Add to: | | | | |
The Kremlin has changed its defenders: the falcons cannot cope with the local crows. Correspondents found out why the feathered guard was renewed and who now guards the sky over the Kremlin.
The main enemy of the winged guards of the Kremlin is the vandal crows. At the end of the 20th century, when hawks had not yet served in the Kremlin, these birds constantly spoiled the atmosphere of the country’s main fortress: they left droppings everywhere, even on the cars of Politburo members, and tore off the gilding of the domes. You see, their entertainment during the mating season is to ride on roofs and domes, like down a hill.
Among birds of prey, hawks are the most reliable fighters. They attack the crows like commandos, suddenly flying out of a car with tinted windows. Or they hunt down the victim, hiding in ambush in a tree. The territory is patrolled in the morning and evening, said Yulia Karaseva, an employee of the Kremlin ornithological group.
“When we go out to practice with a bird, we walk around the territory, and then we practice such a complex element as following: I release the bird, and it flies after me. I don’t look back, I go where I need to go - the bird doesn’t let me out of sight “This is a very complex skill. For thousands of years, dogs have been instilled with the instinct of a puppy following someone, so the dog always flies away from the person. In this case, we have overcome such an ancient instinct of fear, and the bird follows me,” she noted. she.
In free flight, the hawk lands on tree branches and from time to time flies onto the instructor's glove. He receives encouragement in the form of a tidbit. This is a necessary ritual and praise for trust - for the fact that the bird remains close to the person. After this, the feathered fighter again goes into the treetops.
Ornithologists tried to work with other birds. Filya, the eagle owl, serves in the Kremlin and has his own score to settle with the crows: they attacked him as a child. Specialists worked with white gyrfalcons. And last summer, peregrine falcons were moved into one of the Kremlin towers for permanent residence.
This is a tribute to tradition, since from time immemorial these birds lived in towers that reminded them of a mountain landscape. But falcons are not very effective in fighting crows: they fly too high in search of prey, see far and fly beyond the Kremlin, so hawks remain the main part of the winged guard.
Among them there are already real Kremlin old-timers. For example, Alpha, who has already served several presidential terms in the Kremlin, notes Alexei Tyurin, an employee of the ornithological group.
“Alpha, a female vulture hawk, has been working for us for about 20-25 years, probably, that is, she is already the oldest and most titled employee in our group. The bird is very experienced, competent in terms of hunting: it knows the entire territory of the Kremlin and the most vulnerable, from a bird’s point of view, places. It is difficult to count how many crows she caught during her service, but the number is hundreds, if not thousands,” he emphasized.
By driving away crows, hawks protect weak and small neighbors. There are more songbirds in the Alexander Garden and its environs, and at the same time the ecology in the very heart of Moscow is improving.
About how peregrine falcons lived and hunted before their dismissal from the presidential guard, Moscow 24 portal.
All “fighters” are on the balance sheet of the Federal Security Service, and this is a closed structure. But our correspondent was able to lift the veil of secrecy over the most unusual unit that guards the Moscow Kremlin from air attacks around the clock.
And it all started with crows. And for a long time: since the times Ivan the Terrible Borovitsky Hill, on which the Moscow Kremlin stands, was their favorite place to spend the night.
Gray beasts
If you believe the chronicles and memoirs of contemporaries, gray crows flocked here from almost all over the Mother See. And here is the result: now the Oprichnina, now the Time of Troubles... Peter I, as you know, moved the capital, and the crows remained in the Kremlin. After the Soviet government moved from Petrograd, they again took up their dark, or rather, gray business. Latvian riflemen from the guard tried to drive them away with rifle fire, but this greatly unnerved the Council of People's Commissars Lenin. In the 1960s From a separate Kremlin regiment, an outfit of soldiers stood out, which was called “Galkogons”. The soldiers climbed under the roofs of the 1st and 14th buildings, drove the crows out of the attics, closed the windows and cracks, but the crows always found their way back.
Since then, crows have been frightened with everything, for example, with “repellent signals.” A special machine drove around the Kremlin territory and emitted signals through speakers that scared away the crows. But the crows quickly saw through this trick and stopped reacting to it. Through trial and error, we figured out that the best way to control birds is with other birds.
Birds in uniform
The ornithological service appeared in the Kremlin in 1983. Then two saker falcons were accepted into the staff. However, the falcon is a rare bird, listed in the Red Book. They were soon replaced by more unpretentious goshawks. Here they are, plus one eagle owl, now guarding the Kremlin from the air.
The main task of the service is to ensure biological protection of the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The main enemy is the hooded crow - a smart bird; its level of intelligence can even surpass predators. Crows remember human faces and can count to 5. They can distinguish whether a person is holding a gun or a harmless stick. Having gathered together, crows are able to fight off their relative from a not very large predator. In this case, the predator’s sides, or more precisely, its tail and wings, can be seriously damaged.
The most unpleasant quality of crows is their gregarious lifestyle. One or two vagrant individuals do not make a difference, but when there are many birds, they begin to become impudent. They shit on ancient cathedrals, roll off their domes and rip off gold leaf with their claws, pull out flowers and greenery from flower beds, and destroy songbirds that also live on the territory of the Kremlin. In addition, crows can carry bird flu. In general, the hooded crow, like an inveterate racketeer, squeezes territory from other bird species. And on the territory of the Kremlin live nightingales, robins, starlings, and field thrushes. During migration, you can see woodcocks, long-eared owls, and once even a polar owl like Buckley from Harry Potter flew in.
Alpha Hawk, Phil's Eagle Owl
The goshawk is a natural enemy of crows in nature. Where the hawk lives, the crow is afraid to appear and certainly does not build nests or hatch chicks.
The female goshawk Alpha is 20 years old. Considering that hawks in captivity live up to 30 years, then Alpha is in the prime of life. Ornithologists laugh: “She is an honorary employee of the FSO, most of her life she has been at a combat post.” A hawk is neither a dog nor a cat. Even if he has known a falconer (this profession has this name regardless of what species of birds the ornithologist deals with) for 5 or 10 years, he will not work out of respect for the person alone. Only for food and only if you are hungry. Both male and female hawks serve in the Kremlin. Males usually weigh 700-800 g, females are twice as heavy. If she hits a crow, then for sure. But the male is superior to the female in maneuverability. And together they leave practically no chance for the crows. But this is during the day. And at night, the owner of the Kremlin sky is the owl Filya. The eagle owl flies completely silently and grabs sleeping crows wherever they spend the night - on a branch, in a nest, under the roof of a house, in complete darkness. By the way, contrary to popular belief, he sees perfectly well during the day.
After the owl attacked the crow, the others, frightened by its death cries, do not fly away in panic, but retreat in an orderly manner, as befits a good army. They gather in a flock, croaking to warn their companions: “Attention, an eagle owl is working in the sky!” Only after this, having circled in the sky, the flock leaves the territory for a while or for good. However, there are so many flocks of crows in the city that their endless migration will not leave predators without work.
Spring is coming!
Usually the feathered defenders are brought to the Kremlin from a nursery. Filya, who is due to turn 7 on April 12, entered service at the age of 2 weeks. At first he looked like a Persian kitten - the same fluffy gray lump. He perceived people as his parents. Such birds, say Kremlin ornithologists, must be taught the basics of hunting skills, for this there are special techniques. But some end up in the Kremlin at a conscious age and know how to hunt. These people need to be taught something else - cooperation with people.
A bird, naturally, can “choose freedom” - that’s why it was given wings. Birds of prey, unlike domestic animals, do not become permanently attached to humans. For a hawk or eagle owl, a falconer is more of a partner than a master.
What else is difficult about working with predators? A well-fed and overweight bird will not hunt; everything is already in chocolate. But a hungry one won’t fly after the crows either - she simply doesn’t have enough strength for it. The main thing in a falconer’s work is to catch the “correct” weight of the bird, when both the strength is there and the feeling of hunger drives him to hunt. For this purpose, birds in the Kremlin are weighed every day. Filya, for example, weighed 2.9 kg in the morning. Here he is, a handsome man, sitting on the right hand of his commander, clutching his powerful claws (the owl’s main weapon) into a thick leather glove. At the same time, it makes a wide variety of sounds - it hoots, it squawks, it naturally meows.
“He started to talk,” the falconer explains, looking at his pet with understanding. - Spring is coming!
The Kremlin has changed its defenders: the falcons cannot cope with the local crows. Correspondents found out why the feathered guard was renewed and who now guards the sky over the Kremlin.
The main enemy of the winged guards of the Kremlin is the vandal crows. At the end of the 20th century, when hawks had not yet served in the Kremlin, these birds constantly spoiled the atmosphere of the country’s main fortress: they left droppings everywhere, even on the cars of Politburo members, and tore off the gilding of the domes. You see, their entertainment during the mating season is to ride on roofs and domes, like down a hill.
Among birds of prey, hawks are the most reliable fighters. They attack the crows like commandos, suddenly flying out of a car with tinted windows. Or they hunt down the victim, hiding in ambush in a tree. The territory is patrolled in the morning and evening, said Yulia Karaseva, an employee of the Kremlin ornithological group.
“When we go out to practice with a bird, we walk around the territory, and then we practice such a complex element as following: I release the bird, and it flies after me. I don’t look back, I go where I need to go - the bird doesn’t let me out of sight “This is a very complex skill. For thousands of years, dogs have been instilled with the instinct of a puppy following someone, so the dog always flies away from the person. In this case, we have overcome such an ancient instinct of fear, and the bird follows me,” she noted. she.
In free flight, the hawk lands on tree branches and from time to time flies onto the instructor's glove. He receives encouragement in the form of a tidbit. This is a necessary ritual and praise for trust - for the fact that the bird remains close to the person. After this, the feathered fighter again goes into the treetops.
Ornithologists tried to work with other birds. Filya, the eagle owl, serves in the Kremlin and has his own score to settle with the crows: they attacked him as a child. Specialists worked with white gyrfalcons. And last summer, peregrine falcons were moved into one of the Kremlin towers for permanent residence.
This is a tribute to tradition, since from time immemorial these birds lived in towers that reminded them of a mountain landscape. But falcons are not very effective in fighting crows: they fly too high in search of prey, see far and fly beyond the Kremlin, so hawks remain the main part of the winged guard.
Among them there are already real Kremlin old-timers. For example, Alpha, who has already served several presidential terms in the Kremlin, notes Alexei Tyurin, an employee of the ornithological group.
“Alpha, a female vulture hawk, has been working for us for about 20-25 years, probably, that is, she is already the oldest and most titled employee in our group. The bird is very experienced, competent in terms of hunting: it knows the entire territory of the Kremlin and the most vulnerable, from a bird’s point of view, places. It is difficult to count how many crows she caught during her service, but the number is hundreds, if not thousands,” he emphasized.
By driving away crows, hawks protect weak and small neighbors. There are more songbirds in the Alexander Garden and its environs, and at the same time the ecology in the very heart of Moscow is improving.
About how peregrine falcons lived and hunted before their dismissal from the presidential guard, Moscow 24 portal.
