Laser is keeping crows from invading downtown

SUNNYVALE >> Less than two weeks after a city worker started shining a green laser into trees downtown, the creative solution to Sunnyvale's crow conundrum has caught the attention of the Federal Aviation Administration.

On Jan. 27, FAA WesternPacific Regional Administrator Raquel Girvin sent a letter to the city about lasers being an “aviation safety hazard.”

The $20 handheld laser is the city's latest attempt to solve its growing crow problem. Every night at dusk, thousands of corvids descend on downtown, swooping down on diners, roosting in trees and littering the streets with feathers and bird droppings.

So far, the laser has shown promising results, keeping the crows out of Plaza del Sol — one of their favorite roosting spots — and breaking them up into much smaller groups.

Sunnyvale, however, is near four airports — Mineta San Jose International Airport, Moffet Federal Airfield in Mountain View, the Palo Alto Airport and the San Carlos Airport — meaning planes often fly over the city at low altitudes.

In the letter, Girvin urged city officials to “discuss utilization of lasers prior to their distribution” with the San Jose Flight Standards District Office or “find another method which is not a hazard to aviation safety.”

In a statement, FAA Public Affairs Specialist Donnell Evans told this news organization that the agency issued $120,000 in fines in 2021 for laserrelated incidents. There were no reported laser incidents last year in Sunnyvale, however, there were 25 in San Jose.

“Many types of high-powered lasers can incapacitate pilots, many of whom are flying airplanes with hundreds of passengers,” he said. “People who shine lasers at aircraft face FAA fines of up to $11,000 per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple laser incidents. Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”

Sunnyvale spokesperson Jennifer Garnett said Public Works Director Chip Taylor has since spoken to the FAA, and the city plans to continue using the laser pointer until the pilot program is complete.

However, the FAA said they will be “closely monitoring” the city over the next several months for reports of laser strikes from pilots.

City Manager Kent Steffens also responded to the FAA's concerns in a Feb. 2 letter, clarifying that the city isn't handing out lasers to the public. Instead, a city worker is using a laser pointer purchased from Amazon for about a half hour between 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

“We trained our staff how to safely use the laser pointer as it relates to both FAA concerns as well as people who may be in the area,” Steffens said. “They are aware of the flight paths of the mentioned airports and were directed not to operate the laser pointer anytime aircraft may be near the area. We've also directed them not to shine the laser pointer upward, but rather at a low angle directly into the canopy of the trees and only for one to two second intervals.”

Garnett said they've continued to see success with the lasers keeping crows out of Plaza del Sol and breaking them into smaller groups across downtown, however, they're unsure if the crows will return as soon as they stop using the laser.