Network Rail enlists hawks to prevent a halt in station’s £14m overhaul

Meet Maverick – a feathered enforcer whose job is to ensure nesting birds don’t cause costly delays to Network Rail’s £14 million upgrade of Scarborough station.

The 15-month-old harris hawk puts in two shifts a week at the coastal rail terminus – keeping gulls and crows from settling on the soon-to-be-replaced roof.

Old slates have been removed already – and nesting birds could mean work having to stop during the critical summer months of the extensive 12-month project.

Maverick and fellow winged seaside sentry Lily patrol the site for an hour each visit and are rewarded with food from their Rentokil-employed keeper. Their arrival for work at the grade II-listed station always provokes a lively, squawking response from the surrounding birds – which often try standing their ground before sensibly retreating from the area.