Every workplace has that one coworker everybody wants a photo with. At Ford's Hermosillo plant in Mexico, that coworker is about two feet tall and covered in feathers.
The Hermosillo plant builds more than 300,000 pickups and SUVs a year with 4,300 workers. For years, it also hosted a growing pigeon population that got into light beams and equipment and left droppings that had to be buffed out of freshly painted vehicles. Some birds even learned to wait by the doors and fly in when they opened.
What did Ford try first?
Recordings of larger birds: no luck
Replica "predator" eyes: no luck
A Harris's hawk named Chalino: met another hawk on patrol, flew away with it, and never came back
So the falconer called for backup.
Who's the new hire?
EMPLOYEE FILE
Name: El Charro (a common term for a Mexican cowboy)
Species: Harris's hawk
Start date: July 2025
Shift: Two to three hours in the afternoon, fed before clocking in
Territory: Half the building's exterior, plus nest scouting for staff
Record: 300+ flights, 1,170+ hours, and a roughly 80% drop in bird activity in monitored areas
"El Charro has to ride every day here," said Jesus Teran, the plant's central maintenance manager.
Why does a hawk make such a good story?
Kyle couldn't get past Chalino's runaway romance. Nathan Southwick noted that workers regularly line up to take photos with El Charro. And Paul took it a step further: there's nothing cooler than a business pet.
Walk into a dealership with a friendly dog, and everybody is happier. (A cat, he admits, only makes sense if it came with the building.)
Customers remember personality. A shop dog, a store tradition, or a hawk on patrol gives people something to smile about, and they'll tell the story for you.
