Kentucky City Fights Migratory Bird Invasion With Air Cannons, Lasers

As cardinals flock to Rome, blackbirds and starlings are flocking to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Yes, we couldn't help ourselves with that transition. And the hills are alive with the sounds of air cannons. The cannons were brought in to disperse hundreds of thousands of birds roosting in trees, filling the skies, blocking the sun.

CORNISH: The cannons were brought in to disperse hundreds of thousands of birds roosting in trees, filling the skies, blocking the sun.

BOBBY HAILE: Well, they usually come in about 4:30 or 5:00, and they just come in in droves. They don't just come at one time. They circle around and look for a landing place. And then here comes another maybe 1,000 birds, and the sky almost gets black. The sky is just full of them.

CORNISH: That's Hopkinsville resident Bobby Haile, a retired dentist. And while it's not uncommon for migratory flocks to make a pit stop in Haile's area, the sheer scope of this visit is causing some problems. With us to explain a bit more about this troublesome bird summit in Hopkinsville, Kentucky is Geoff LaBaron, an ornithologist with National Audubon Society. Welcome, Geoff.

GEOFF LABARON: Glad to be here.

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http://www.npr.org/2013/03/04/173455759/kentucky-city-fights-migratory-bird-invasion-with-air-cannons-lasers