To keep crows away from the Kremlin in the 1960s, there was a special division in the regiment that guarded the building. Nicknamed “crow chasers” they would shoo the birds from attics, close open windows, and generally try to keep crows out of the building.
Moscow is home to large populations of pigeons, jackdaws, and especially crows. The birds can transmit disease and perhaps worse, poop all over the Kremlin’s intricate and famous roofs. To keep the building clean it is easier to keep the crows away. But a specially-dedicate division of soldiers was not having much success.
In the 1980s they tried replacing the soldiers with pre-recorded falcon shrieks and screams. Crows are too smart for that, though, and quickly learned to ignore the noises. So the Kremlin’s guardians switched to live falcons (then hawks). Now, the Kremlin is guarded by northern goshawks - for them, crows are natural prey, while falcons mainly hunt rodents, not crows. The birds keep the Kremlin clean and disease-free.
