Wildlife Officials Pursue 'Lethal Removal' Of Birds At Little Neck Bay

Come summer, the air over the waters of Little Neck Bay and the rest of Queens could be a whole lot emptier and quieter.

In response to several high-profile incidents linked to aircraft coming into contact with Canada Geese, wildlife authorities have embarked on an ongoing effort to control the city's bird population.

So far, those efforts largely include destroying the birds in a seven-mile radius from LaGuardia and Kennedy International airports, an area which includes Little Neck Bay and Alley Pond Park — two locations in which Canada Geese are known to congregate, especially during the summer nesting season.

Last July, 200 Canada geese were captured and destroyed in Little Neck Bay and Alley Pond Park, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency in charge of destroying, dispersing and relocating birds near the nation's airports.

Nationally, 24,519 geese were "lethally removed" in fiscal year 2009, according the USDA. Most of those removals were in the densely-populated Northeast region, according to an agency spokeswoman.

However, at least one animal rights advocate said she believed local, state and federal agencies were not adequately considering other non-lethal options of controlling the city's bird population.

"There are alternatives that should and could be used, short of killing these birds," said Elinor Molbegott, legal counsel on animal issues for the Humane Society of New York.

Among the methods Molbegott said could be used to control bird population was a process called "addling," which involves the oiling of bird eggs to make sure they don't develop.

Other non-lethal practices include harassment of the birds using dogs of the Border Collie breed, as well as the planting of tall grass to dissuade the geese from congregating in parks and other nature preserves.

Chris Dwyer, a wildlife biologist working the Northeast district office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, dismissed the non-lethal bird population practices as insufficient to ensure the safety of the flying public.

On Jan. 15, 2009, USAirways Flight 1549 was disabled by a "double bird-strike" to both engines which accident investigators later found was caused by a flock of Canada geese. The plane later made a crash landing in the Hudson River with no major injuries to passengers or crew.

"Certain practices, including the oiling of eggs, may solve site specific problems, but it doesn't provide a permanent solution in reducing the geese population around the city's airports," Dwyer said.

At the Humane Society of New York, Molbegott pointed to the return of some geese only a few months after a large round-up operation at Prospect Park that netted 400 birds.

"If you kill the birds without adjusting the habitat, it will just result in more birds coming," she said.

For at least one frequenter of Little Neck Bay, there wasn't much different about the still waters off Douglas Manor pier in recent months. 

"There are still a lot of geese around," said Mooring Man owner John Riordan this week.