Some real birds will be waging a silent battle high above the crowds at the MCG as the Hawks and the Magpies face off in their AFL preliminary final tonight.

The AFL says two wedged-tailed eagles will be tethered on the roof of the stadium in an attempt to scare off the seagulls that have become a menace around the ground.

The raptors are being brought in for the Hawthorn-Collingwood game after seagulls flocked to the ground last Friday - when the Hawks took on the Swans.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says there is a risk the birds will steal the show if nothing is done.

"We had a lot of issues with the seagulls last week at night-time," he said.

"They were all over the ground and they detracted from the spectacle."

Victoria's Environment Department has issued a one-off permit for the MCG to use raptors to scare the seagulls away tonight and tomorrow.

Nick Mooney is an expert on birds of prey from the Raptor and Wildlife Refuge of Tasmania.

Sorry, this audio has expired Eagles take on gulls at the MCG

And he says if you really want to keep seagulls at bay, you should use a peregrine falcon.

"The peregrines are free-flying," he said.

"[But] what they may do is actually attack a seagull and they may actually catch one, and you don't want that happening in the middle of the MCG."

"Eagles are far less controllable flying and they need a lot of space but they are very obvious birds and the seagulls are also nervous of them, [although] not as nervous as [they are of falcons].

"My guess is this is a bit of an experiment to see if it makes them unsettled enough.

"It's also at night under light so the risk also is that any bird that's not familiar with that, such as a trained bird brought in, might get disorientated and have a crash and just turn into a debacle."

In a written statement, The Department of Environment suggests the use of raptors is not a lasting solution to the MCG's bird problem.