Meet Caprice, the hawk who works for the City of Burnaby

Michelle Gomez · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 5:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

She's majestic, alert, and sleek. 

She's Caprice the Hawk and has a precise important occupation astatine the City of Burnaby. 

Caprice — who is simply a Harris's hawk — guards the Burnaby eco-centre, wherever recycling and compost are periodically dropped disconnected passim the week. 

The centre happens to beryllium adjacent a fashionable roosting spot, wherever thousands of crows from crossed Metro Vancouver stitchery each evening—and are people attracted to the compost. 

It's Caprice's occupation to support these birds astatine bay. 

"We would beryllium inundated with dive-bombing birds close present if we did not person the hawk here," said Zac Der, an biology services serviceman with the city. 

Burnaby is not the archetypal metropolis to usage birds to ward off birds: different cities, including Coquitlam, Toronto and Ottawa, person utilized birds of prey to defender landfills. 

Der said the metropolis started hiring hawks to defender the presumption implicit a decennary agone aft it began collecting compost. 

He said assemblage members had complained astir the birds making a mess, dropping compost items and droppings successful ample amounts astir the neighbourhood. 

The extremity of the hawk is not to prey connected the section birds but alternatively to support them from descending connected the scraps. 

As a earthy predator of crows and different smaller birds similar gulls, the hawks' beingness unsocial keeps them away. 

"Even if the hawk is conscionable resting oregon is conscionable present, it is capable that you'll spot virtually nary birds," Der said. 

Laura Lankford, who works for Falcon Bird Control, is Caprice's handler and friend. 

"She is fierce; she's a warrioress and she's a sweetheart," said Lankford arsenic Caprice perched connected her arm. 

Under Lankford's supervision, Caprice patrols the centre during the time from Monday to Thursday. That is erstwhile compost is astatine the transportation presumption wherever it is dropped disconnected and aboriginal picked up to beryllium taken to its adjacent destination. 

"It's a escaped buffet, and [the crows] emotion it," said Lankford. 

Caprice spends her days perched astir the batch and flying overhead but Lankford says she ever comes back successful the end. 

"When I alert her around, that makes them truly nervous," said Lankford. 

And Caprice's payment?

Plenty of snacks and pets.