Overall, the findings from this study demonstrate that avian
use of transfer stations can be substantial, particularly by nuisance birds. High levels of bird use at transfer stations can result in problems associated with the daily operation of the facility, nuisance issues for local residents and adjacent landowners, and human health and safety issues. The amount of bird use among individual transfer stations of the same building design was highly variable. Study findings suggest severalfactors, including season, geographic location, and operational (on-site) management practices, might be important and influence the amount of bird use at waste transfer stations. Future research specifically evaluating these factors is needed to elucidate their importance. Notably, bird use was minimal at some individual transfer stations. Efforts to reduce the
potential for use by nuisance birds should be considered during
the planning phase (e.g., siting, building design) for new transfer
stations. At existing transfer stations, operational procedures
and appropriate wildlife control activities could be conducted to
reduce their attractiveness to birds and thus decrease the risk of
human-wildlife conflict situations associated with those facilities.