Victoria port authority hopes to clear up gull poop problem by enticing eagles with fake tree

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority is hoping a newly installed fake tree will attract a nesting pair of bald eagles to one of its warehouses and in turn, scare off the dozens of gulls who are ruining the roof with their poop.

Jacques Sirois, president of the Friends of Victoria Harbour Migratory Birds Society, says there are between 25 and 30 nests on the roof of the warehouse at Ogden Point, with as many as 150 gulls frequenting the area.

"As you can imagine, the guano of the birds actually damages the roof, and it creates actually quite a smelly and dirty situation at Ogden Point where the cruise ship terminal is," Sirois said.

A natural deterrent

At the end of its rope, the port authority called in Sirois to help them get rid of the birds.

Sirois suggested placing a tall snag aperch used by raptors for restingor hunting near the building, which would encourage bald eagles to nest nearby.

Eagles, he says, can frequently be seen hunting gulls around Victoria, and he hoped they would act as a natural deterrent.

Western Stevedoring, the company that operates the building, compromised with Sirois, building a three-metre tree crown structure and placing it directly on the roof.

"It looks a little funny, if you want my honest opinion," Sirois said. "[But] it's an experiment."

Next year's nesters

Sirois says bald eagle nesting season is already well underway, so the fake snag likely won't get any new tenants until next year.

But he expects it to be in hot demand he says the housing market in Victoria is just as tight for eagles as it is for humans.

"One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, 200 years ago here, we had thousands of live trees along the shoreline and hundreds of dead trees," Sirois said. "We had lots of roosting opportunities for eagles and herons and cormorants."

Since then, the city has been built up, and despite earlier struggles, Sirois says bald eagle numbers are booming in recent decades, with as many as 10,000 living on B.C.'s South Coast year round.

"Now, with the city being built, a lot of the dead trees are down, so a good roost for eagles is a rare commodity in the city, and yet we have lots of eagles," he said.

"They're looking for good places to roost."