Chances are you don't know Ben Potter – and no, he's not a relation of Harry's.

But just like his wizard namesake, this Potter has something of a knack when it comes to his feathered friends.

You might just recognise a few of them.

They've had starring roles in TV shows like Heartbeat, Emmerdale and The Chase.

And his vulture, Betty, has just made a guest appearance in the latest video by pop band The Wombats.

However, Ben says directors sometimes have slightly unrealistic expectations of what he can get his charges to do.

"They'll ask stuff like, 'Can you get it to do a forward roll?' and you say, 'I'll try my best', but at the end of the day the bird will more often than not do what it wants to."

Ben has been flying birds of prey since he was a teenager and recently set up his own business, Birds of Prey Displays.

He has more than 20 birds including a European eagle owl he calls Oska and a female Russian steppe eagle named Sky.

Then there are the likes of Arthur the white-headed vulture, Juno the buzzard and Kevin the striated cara cara.

"School wasn't really for me so I left at 14 and just went back for my exams," Ben recalled.

"I went and volunteered at the local falconry centre and then joined full time at 16. I haven't looked back since.

"It's a great job and something I love doing. I get to work outdoors all day and the rewards you get from the birds make it all worthwhile.
"You will put in five or six hours work with a bird and it will still do its own thing. But when it does it under some degree of control it's a great feeling."

As well as staging flying displays at events like the Otley Show and touring West Yorkshire schools, there is another, more unusual wing to Ben's work.

His crack team of birds is frequently drafted in to ward off pests at industrial sites in Yorkshire and the North East.

Chemical factories, landfill sites and even airfields all call on Ben's services to rid them of unwanted guests.

"A lot of places become infested with seagulls, crows, magpies or pigeons," the 27-year-old, from Thirsk, explained.

"Some landfill sites can get thousands of gulls and they can cause real health and safety problems."

Ben deploys predators including falcons, peregrines and hawks to scare away the birds.

"We take them into the area and fly them through the day, one straight after the other.

"Any pest species coming into the area can't feed, land or build nests because they're scared of the birds.

"It's a huge deterrent and a lot better than using poison or guns. With a landfill that has up to 6,000 gulls on it we can get it down to less than 100 in the space of a month."

You can't blame the gulls for being wary of Ben's birds.

He admits they can be difficult to handle at times, especially the larger ones.

"When you combine a bird's personality with size and aggression it can make things a bit tricky.

"A lot of people think they're cute and cuddly but you have to be sensible with them. They're not pets.

"Eagles and vultures are designed to survive in some of the world's harshest environments and they are built to fight off other predators.
"Arthur, my white-headed vulture, is a bit of a handful. He weighs 10 pounds and has a seven-foot wingspan.

"But there are bigger birds than him. One of the vultures weighs 14 pounds and has eight feet of wings. These aren't toys!"

For more information about Ben and his flying team visit www.birdsofpreydisplays.co.uk.