Being from New Jersey and paying Port Authority bridge tolls everyday, I was deeply disturbed to learn that starlings are now being killed in the Teterboro Airport, which the Port Authority runs. Upon reading their Wildlife Hazard Management Plan, it appears that all Port Authority airports (Teterboro included) intend to kill all of the birds in the sky indefinitely. There is no discernible end to their euthanasia program (which includes pigeons, starlings, gulls, geese, sparrows, blackbirds, etc.). Also disturbing is the fact that those asking for the permits are the ones who make the money for killing the birds – the US Dept. of Agriculture, since the USDA receives money for providing the extermination services.

We need to explore landscape changes, pyrotechnics, altering plane flight patterns, and other non-lethal means. And, we need an independent assessment to determine whether these methods are effective.  

Any program that relies on killing the birds to solve the problem is not supportable. At the end of the day, we must learn to live with the wildlife around us.