(AP) -- Birders in New Jersey are finding growing numbers of hawks and other raptors with burned feathers and it appears the birds are getting singed as they fly over a flame used to burn off methane at a landfill.

The Record reports (http://bit.ly/2dWkNDD ) the Kingsland Landfill in Lyndhurst is closed and is maintained by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Don Torino, president of the Bergen County Audubon Society, says he's complained to the authority for several years about the problem.

Experts say such methane flares at landfills post dangers to birds across the country.

Wayne Hasenbalg, the sports authority's president, sent Torino a letter saying the agency has contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Environmental Proteciton for advice on the problem.

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Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com