Tom has been a licensed falconer for over 40 years. Besides flying and training falcons and hawks, he has been involved in breeding projects for peregrine falcons, helping to restore dwindling populations to the wild. He has also spent many seasons in public schools teaching children about birds of prey...
Falcons are trained daily for a year prior to harvest with the objective of teaching the falcons to fly high above crops to scatter nuisance birds. While in the vineyards and farms, just prior to harvest, falcons are released, one at a time, to patrol the skies over the crops. The nuisance birds are dispersed when they see their natural predators, the falcons, in the area.