After veraison, as grapes develop their attractive colour within the winery, the age-old battle between man and nature — within the type of hungry birds — begins. Vintners and farmers have experimented with gasoline cannons, reflective flash tape, sonic sound programs, drones and netting to scare off their voracious flying opponents. However, the noise of cannons and sonics can irritate neighbors, and drones and netting are labor intensive, making them too costly to take care of.
Nature typically gives the very best answer, and within the case of birds raiding vineyards, the pure answer is birds of prey like falcons. Small birds’ instinctive worry of their pure predators causes the flock to shift path, saving the crop from invasion.
After 5 a long time within the chicken abatement enterprise, Falcon Crop Safety has an intimate information of chicken conduct and has introduced this information to wine nation after their advertising and marketing supervisor moved to Healdsburg, launching Falcon Crop Safety to assist vineyards cut back grape loss from birds. Their invention ― The Falcon Frightkite™ — creates an amazingly genuine profile and flight sample primarily based on the peregrine falcon, a chicken of prey many viticulturists see looking over their vineyards.
“We’ve had kites up for six or seven years, and we’ve so many glad clients,” says Justine Davies, Advertising Supervisor for Falcon Crop Safety. “The kites sometimes final a number of rising seasons, and we’re now seeing clients returning to make repeat purchases.”
Dave Crockett of Kenwood winery companies firm Filth Farmer and Co. and Falcons’ first Frightkite buyer says, “I’ve been utilizing Falcon Frightkites in my Cabernet winery and at shoppers’ vineyards for over ten years. They’re the best chicken deterrents I’ve discovered, together with lasers and varied sounds. Not solely are the consequences visible, however they lead to greater than 10% better yields in most areas.”
The kite is a detailed reproduction of a falcon. It’s two toes lengthy, and its wingspan is 56 inches, wider than a peregrine falcon’s 39‒43 inch wingspan and barely smaller than that of a gyrfalcon’s 62 inches. The kite follows the peregrine’s v-shaped wing form and has “feathers” that flutter like a falcon’s wingtip feathers when hovering to seek for prey or utilizing them for steadiness and flight management. The falcon kite’s head and neck are white, which indicators ‘hazard’ to birds even at a protracted distance, so once they catch a glimpse of the falcon form within the sky, additionally they register that white hazard signal.
“I’ve been utilizing Falcon Frightkites for over ten years in my Cabernet winery. They’re the best chicken deterrents I’ve discovered, together with lasers and varied sounds they usually lead to greater than 10% better yields in most areas.”
Robert Salomon attests to the Frightkite’s authenticity: “I’ve been utilizing the Falcon kites in my Viognier winery for eight years. I as soon as watched a flock of birds heading instantly towards my winery, and once they approached the Falcon kite, the flock banked instantly and flew away. The kites have lowered my chicken injury downside dramatically. I began with one Falcon kite and have added a second for higher protection. I exploit them yearly.”
The Falcon Frightkite hovers like a falcon as a result of the flight line attaches at two locations on the wing to drag it away from the chicken. This design creates a clean arc, and the air can move via it like a field kite, letting it rise in a really gentle wind. There’s one other flap sewn into the Frightkite close to the tail and collectively these two design flaps create the Venturi impact that helps the kite increase and do random aerobatics that birds don’t adapt to or acknowledge as a faux.
The winery supervisor for Napa’s Blankiet Property relates a singular expertise. “A few years in the past, our Winery Supervisor took some thrilling footage,” says Julie Jones, talking for the property. “A reside falcon got here to battle with one of many FrightKite Falcons to guard his territory. It took him a bit to acknowledge what he was attacking, which speaks properly for the kite’s lifelike flying patterns.”
The 100% handmade, handstitched kites use a proprietary cloth with rip-stop fiber to mitigate towards tearing if it will get a gap. The spars creating the falcon form use a high-strength but extremely gentle materials — carbon fiber.
Squire Fridell of GlenLyon Vineyards & Vineyard and Two Amigos Wines in Glen Ellen places it: “I LOVE this stuff, and we’d fly all of them yr ’trigger they’re so fairly, however they’d put on out even sooner.”
Davies, at all times seeking to innovate the Firm’s kites, is now on the ultimate stage of subject testing a brand new spinning prime with ball bearings to extend maneuverability throughout wind occasions.
If you happen to’re a glad buyer and wish an replace or a grower who wants to forestall grape loss to birds, attain out to Falcon Crop Safety by e-mail or go to the web site: falconcropprotection.com.
