Ford’s Hermosillo assembly plant in Sonora, Mexico, found itself dealing with an unusual workplace problem involving persistent pigeons entering the sprawling factory and leaving droppings around equipment and freshly painted vehicles. The facility employs more than 4,000 workers and produces more than 300,000 vehicles a year, making the bird problem difficult to ignore. Ford tried conventional deterrents, including predator sounds and fake predator eyes, but the pigeons gradually became accustomed to them. The company eventually turned to a more natural solution by bringing in a trained Harris’s hawk named El Charro. Since July 2025, the hawk has patrolled the facility for several hours a day, with Ford reporting an approximately 80% decline in bird activity in monitored areas.
Pigeon invasions at Ford’s Mexico factory
The pigeon problem at Ford’s Hermosillo plant was more than an occasional nuisance. Birds repeatedly found their way into the facility, while their droppings created hygiene concerns and could end up on vehicles and around machinery. With thousands of employees working across the massive manufacturing complex, keeping the birds away became an ongoing challenge. Ford initially tried methods designed to make the factory appear unsafe for pigeons. These included sounds associated with predatory birds and visual deterrents resembling the eyes of predators. But the pigeons eventually learned that the threats were not real. Their persistence reportedly reached the point where they could wait for factory doors to open before entering.
Ford turns to a real predator
After artificial deterrents failed to solve the problem, Ford turned to falconry. In July 2025, the company brought in El Charro, a trained Harris’s hawk, to patrol the facility. The species, Parabuteo unicinctus, is native to the Americas and is widely used in professional bird-control operations. The purpose of El Charro’s presence is primarily deterrence. His presence signals to pigeons that a genuine predator is nearby, encouraging them to leave the area or avoid settling there in the first place.
El Charro patrols the plant
El Charro typically spends around two to three hours a day patrolling the Ford facility. Before his patrol, he is fed, allowing the operation to focus on controlling bird activity rather than relying on him to hunt pigeons for food. The hawk also helps identify areas where pigeons gather or build nests. Once those locations are identified, workers can remove nests and address places where birds repeatedly congregate. According to Ford, El Charro has completed more than 300 flights and logged more than 1,170 hours of patrol time since he began working at the plant.
Bird activity drops by about 80%
Ford says the unusual strategy has produced a substantial improvement. Bird activity in the monitored areas has fallen by about 80% since the hawk began patrolling the facility. The figure refers specifically to bird activity in monitored areas and should not be interpreted as an 80% reduction in the overall pigeon population. El Charro’s role is part of a broader bird-control programme that combines predator deterrence with nest removal and other measures. The use of trained birds of prey for bird control is already established in several industries. Airports, landfills, agricultural sites and other large facilities sometimes use falcons or hawks to discourage unwanted birds from gathering in areas where they can cause safety, hygiene or operational problems.
From pest control to factory celebrity
El Charro has also become an unusual presence among workers at the Hermosillo plant. Employees have been photographed with the hawk, and Ford has highlighted him as an unconventional member of the factory workforce. His success illustrates the difference between artificial and natural deterrents. Pigeons were able to become accustomed to recorded predator sounds and fake predator images, but the presence of a trained raptor creates a genuine predator threat. For Ford, a persistent pigeon problem at one of its largest manufacturing facilities has therefore produced an unusual solution. Instead of continuing to rely only on fake predators, the company brought in a real one, turning El Charro into one of the factory’s most unconventional workers.