The Icelandic Falcon Institute plans to install security cameras at falcon nests to discourage thieves who have prayed on the birds, stealing their eggs. The Icelandic Natural History Institute suspects that falcon nests are systematically raided by thieves. A thriving black market exists for gyrfalcon eggs, as trained hunting falcons are a prized status symbol among wealthy Middle Eastern princes who use the falcons in falconry.
Read more: Authorities suspect organized criminals prey on falcon nests, stealing eggs for export
The Falcon Isnstitue admits it will never be able to monitor all falcon nests in Iceland, but hopes that a more systematic monitoring of nests will discourage criminals. It has been estimated that between three and four hundred pairs of falcons nest in Iceland. The cameras would be equipped with a motion sensor, snapping photos of anyone who crossed their field of vision.
Some farmers have already installed security cameras on their property to protect falcon nests. The local newspaper Fréttablaðið reports that a farmer in Aðaldalur valley in North East Iceland installed a security camera to monitor a falcon nest on his property when he was fed up with suspicious traffic on his property. A decades old falcon nest on his property had failed to produce a single chick for 10-15 years.
Installing the security camera had an immediate effect, as the next years the nesting falcons were able to hatch and brood several nestlings which survived to maturity.
The Icelandic Falcon Institute plans to install security cameras at falcon nests to discourage thieves who have prayed on the birds, stealing their eggs. The Icelandic Natural History Institute suspects that falcon nests are systematically raided by thieves. A thriving black market exists for gyrfalcon eggs, as trained hunting falcons are a prized status symbol among wealthy Middle Eastern princes who use the falcons in falconry.
Read more: Authorities suspect organized criminals prey on falcon nests, stealing eggs for export
The Falcon Isnstitue admits it will never be able to monitor all falcon nests in Iceland, but hopes that a more systematic monitoring of nests will discourage criminals. It has been estimated that between three and four hundred pairs of falcons nest in Iceland. The cameras would be equipped with a motion sensor, snapping photos of anyone who crossed their field of vision.
Some farmers have already installed security cameras on their property to protect falcon nests. The local newspaper Fréttablaðið reports that a farmer in Aðaldalur valley in North East Iceland installed a security camera to monitor a falcon nest on his property when he was fed up with suspicious traffic on his property. A decades old falcon nest on his property had failed to produce a single chick for 10-15 years.
Installing the security camera had an immediate effect, as the next years the nesting falcons were able to hatch and brood several nestlings which survived to maturity.
