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.
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