Rathfinny Wine Estate has deployed birds of prey via a specialist falconry team to guard its English wine grapes as they ripen in the build-up to the 2025 harvest.
Falcons, hawks and even a ‘Chilean blue eagle’ are patrolling the skies above Rathfinny’s vineyards from dawn until dusk, the Sussex-based winery said.
It’s a trial to see if these trained birds of prey can protect English wine grapes by keeping hungry seagulls, pigeons and crows away from precious fruit – saving more than 300km of plastic netting that would normally cover vines.
Sarah Driver, Rathfinny co-founder and co-owner, said, ‘In the past we have used nets to try and protect our grapes from birds, but as a [certified] B Corp company we’re always trying to reduce our environmental impact.
‘The plastic nets need replacing every three-to-five years and require lots of small plastic clips to keep them in place.’
News of the trial comes amid signs of a particularly promising UK wine harvest in 2025, following a record hot summer.
Rathfinny expected to begin harvest on 25 September, 10 days earlier than normal, and said a professional falconry team was employing the trained birds of prey to provide several lines of defence for its grapes.
A specialist ‘hybrid’ bird representing a peregrine falcon cross-bred with a Gyrfalcon is speedy, agile and large enough to chase off bigger birds, such as seagulls, said the producer.
Another hybrid falcon – a peregrine crossed with a South American Aplomado – ‘is the perfect size to ward off pigeons’, said Rathfinny, adding the bird has the agility to fly in-between vine rows if required.
The team is also using Merlins, another type of falcon and the UK’s smallest bird of prey, to help chase off smaller birds ‘who might be settling down to eat the fruit’.
Harris’s hawks are patrolling the perimeter of the estate, as is the Chilean blue eagle – also known as a black-chested buzzard eagle – which has a sufficiently intimidating presence to scare off crows and other birds, said the producer.
While grapes may be off the menu, Rathfinny’s Driver said there are alternative meals for hungry birds nearby. ‘Luckily, there’s currently plenty of food available in the hedgerows around the estate for the birds to enjoy.’
Birds of prey have previously been used in vineyards in California to protect grapes, and a 2012 study published in the journal Conservation Biology found that introducing falcons could lead to a significant reduction in grape losses.
