Most great tales have a hero and a villain, and the now-legendary Miracle on the Hudson, in which a pilot successfully ditched a plane that had lost power in both engines, is no exception.

On Thursday, the return of the pilot, Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III, to complete the flight from La Guardia Airport to Charlotte, N.C., was greeted with nonstop media coverage, his fans besieging him with applause and autograph requests. The story of the culprits in the Jan. 15 accident  namely the geese that knocked out those engines  has played out a little differently.

The exact number of resident Canada geese is difficult to ascertain  probably somewhere above 20,000 in the New York metropolitan area, according to the State Department of Environmental Conservation. What is certain is that over eight hectic days last summer that number was reduced by 1,235.

In June and July, about a dozen workers from the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services and the city’s Parks and Recreation and Environmental Protection Departments descended on 17 locations across New York. Their aim was to gather as many birds as they could, and they were taking no prisoners.