MOSCOW, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Russian officials are using trained goshawk falcons and two eagles from Siberia to scare off crows they say are ruining the Kremlin's famous gold domes.

The crows' talons are scratching the gold leaf off the domes as they slide down its sides to launch into the air, reported the Sunday Telegraph.


In addition, the acid in the birds' droppings has been corroding the gold leaf on the Kremlin and several Moscow cathedrals.

"The birds do not have to kill all the crows. That would be impossible," said Valery Verbitsky, a Kremlin ornithologist. "But just their presence should be enough to frighten the majority away."

Verbitsky said there had been an attempt to scare the crows away with a fake bird of prey that played recorded falcon sounds.

"But after two weeks the crows figured it out," said Verbitsky.