10•52 • no gull...

52 Weeks: The 2013 Edition • Week 10 theme "What is it?"

Meet Crystal who is an Icelandic Gyrfalcon. She's at her job, which  is bird abatement at Neil Road Recycling and Waste Facility. She’s part of the raptor team that deters the Gulls from picking through the trash and defecating on the landfill workers.

Crystal belongs to Dave Myers who is a Master Falconer that owns and operates "Bird Abatement Services". Bird abatement services is a non-lethal way of displacing wild birds that cause agricultural damage, and are public health and safety concerns. Crystal is also Dave’s most prized bird who is worth ~ $20,000. Dave can be contacted at 530.774.3205.

"The Gyrfalcon (pron.: /ˈdʒɜrfɔːlkən/ or /ˈdʒɜrfælkən/), also spelled gerfalcon, — Falco rusticolus — is the largest of the falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and the islands of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly resident there also, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter.[nb 1] Although the Sushen's precise homeland at that time remains unknown, it was in the Manchuria region, no less than c.600 and perhaps more than 1000 km from the Lu capital of Qufu. The Gyrfalcon is dispersed throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, with populations in Northern America, Greenland, and Northern Europe. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark brown. For centuries, gyrfalcon has been a precious hunting bird, highly valued among the Vikings. It is the national symbol of Iceland.
 
The bird's common name comes from French gerfaucon; in medieval Latin it is gyrofalco. The first part of the word may come from Old High German gîr (cf. modern German Geier) for "vulture", referring to its size compared to other falcons; or from the Latin gȳrus for "circle" or "curved path"—from the species' circling as it searches for prey, distinct from the hunting of other falcons in its range.[nb 2] The male Gyrfalcon is called a gyrkin in falconry. The scientific name is composed of the Latin term for a falcon, Falco, and for a countryside-dweller"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrfalcon