The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently ran a front-page article saying, “Falcons at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) are out of work.1 From early May through September for 15 years, they’ve been swooping and stooping around the runways, scaring off gulls and geese that might otherwise get sucked into jet engines. This year the falcons won’t be flying. JFK has canceled their contract.”
Anyone who knows the history of bird control at airports in the United States would not be surprised. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have a long history of doing what’s good for USDA instead of what’s good for the flying public.
WSJ further said that JFK was “the first and only commercial airport in the U.S. ever to try falconry. The idea was to teach the local birds nesting in the sanctuary th…
