( CNN ) -- Responding to reports that snowy owls were being killed with shotgun blasts , New York airport officials are initiating a program to trap and relocate birds seen as a threat to air safety . The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey said in a statement Monday that it would be work with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to implement the program . Numerous media reports cited sources as saying the Port Authority had the snowy owl on its no-fly list , allowing shotgun-toting specialists to shoot and kill the birds . Concerns were raised that the owls were interfering with planes . `` DEC and the Port Authority are working together closely to quickly develop a process to trap and relocate snowy owls that pose a threat to aircraft , '' the Department of Environmental Conservation said in statement . `` This process will provide a humane alternative for the snowy owls while ensuring passenger safety . '' In the last two weeks , five planes in New York airports were struck by snowy owls that have been migrating to the region in `` far higher than typical numbers , '' according to a statement from the Port Authority . The owls have been a concern for decades at Boston 's Logan International Airport for decades , where authorities use traps to catch the birds , according to Norman Smith , director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society 's Blue Hills Trailside Museum , who heads the initiative . `` I think it 's up to each individual airport to provide the safety that they need , '' Smith told CNN . `` Logan Airport has been very supportive about capturing these birds and removing them from the airport . '' While Smith acknowledged that it takes more time to trap and later release the birds , he said the effort was worth it . `` Is it more difficult to trap a bird than to shoot one with a shotgun ? '' Smith asked . `` Probably , but what Logan Airport does is , by capturing the birds , they not only protect the aircraft but the bird as well . '' Smith said that while snowy owls are not endangered , their numbers are declining and `` nobody knows the actual population of these birds . It 's illegal to possess or release migratory game birds and upland game birds without the proper license from the Department of Environmental Conservation . `` The Port Authority 's goal is to strike a balance in humanely controlling bird populations at and around the agency 's airports to safeguard passengers on thousands of aircraft each day , '' the agency 's statement said .
New York airport officials say they will trap snowy owls seen as threats to air safety . Media reports say airport officials had been shooting the birds after collisions with five planes . Boston Logan International Airport has long used traps to capture the birds .