Meet The Birds In Charge Of Scaring Ocean City's Seagulls

OCEAN CITY, NJ — You can meet the people and birds behind East Coast Falcons this summer on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Representatives from the seagull-intimidation program will be available on the Boardwalk through Labor Day on Sept. 2.

East Coast Falcons reps will be available every day from 4-7 p.m., except on Thursday, when they're available 5-8 p.m. for Family Nights.

The City contracted the program to scare away seagulls who have more aggressive and dependent on an unnatural food supply stolen from people. Falcons, hawks and an owl fly around Ocean City from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The program began Aug. 3 and will run through Labor Day. If successful, it will return next summer.

As the raptors fly overhead, seagulls instinctively know to leave an unsafe area. However, the raptors are full when they fly, so they don't attack the seagulls, officials said. The Humane Society of Ocean City approved the program.

Read more: Ocean City Officials Praise Early Seagull Program Results

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow Ocean City Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.