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In 2017, about 20 per cent of SkyTrain intrusion-alarm delays were caused by birds on the track, which caused a total of 142 trip delays, TransLink spokeswoman Aliya Mohamed said in an email.

Almost all of the bird delays were caused specifically by pigeons and half occurred at Renfrew station, Lee said.

BCRTC has used netting and spikes to keep pigeons away from tracks and from riders in the past, but the birds are clever, Lee said.

“They’ll push the spikes away so that they can roost and they can just hang out there,” he said.

Netting has been effective but a lot of it is required — at great cost — and the pigeons have penetrated some weak spots.

“So we figured the best way to do it is to have a falcon,” Lee said. “The falcon’s a natural predator, so it’s really that main scare tactic that we’re using.”

The pilot program, which launched Dec. 18, will be conducted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Renfrew, Rupert, Holdom, VCC, Burrard and 22nd Street stations, all popular pigeon perches.

BCRTC has partnered with the Maple Ridge firm Raptors Ridge Birds of Prey, whose handlers walk through and around the stations with tethered falcons or hawks. When the pigeons spot the raptors, the frightened birds immediately scat.

The program is exploring whether raptors are an effective deterrent and how often they’ll need to be deployed. Lee said that on Friday two raptors kept away a flock of pigeons for about 90 minutes.

Over time, the pigeons will start expecting raptors at the stations, even though they’ll be deployed less frequently.