Bird and Wildlife Strikes Pest Management at Airports and Surrounding Areas
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AUG/SEPT 2 0 0 9 N P M A L I B R A R Y U P D A T E Insert this update into the NPMA Pest Management Library, which can be Updatepurchased from the Resource Center. Phone: 703-352-NPMA (6762); Fax: 703-352-3031 Bird and Wildlife Strikes Pest Management at Airports and Surrounding Areas Experts within the Federal Aviation Ad- The National Transportation Safety Board ministration (FAA), U.S. Department of Agri- (NTSB) confirmed that the birds that brought culture (USDA), and U.S. Air Force recognize the plane down into the Hudson River were that the threat to human health and safety Canada geese. Researchers determined that from aircraft collisions with wildlife (called they were not migratory geese from Canada, wildlife strikes) is increasing, and they expect but, instead, resident birds from the sur- the risk, frequency, and potential severity of rounding New York area. Migrating Canada wildlife-aircraft collisions to grow over the geese typically weigh from six to 11 pounds, next decade. the safety board said, but non-migrating The events involving the US Airways geese are typically heavier. Most airplane flight 1549 crash into the Hudson River fol- engines can handle only a four pound bird lowing take off from LaGuardia airport in entering it. The identification of bird remains January, 2009 illustrates this point. A mid-air from the US Airways flight was made by the collision after takeoff with a flock of Canada bird lab at the Smithsonian’s National Muse- geese put the pest management of birds at um of Natural History; microscopic analysis of airport facilities front and center in the news feathers found inside the engines and DNA headlines. Most of the listening and reading tests on bird tissue also found there were public had never before considered the im- used in the diagnosis. portance of pest management at and around Airports where planes have struck birds neighboring areas to airports. Few had ever are required to take measures to scare birds heard of the term “snarge” used to describe off, but the plane that crashed in the Hud- the birds’ remains left on the plane that are analyzed after a bird strike. Fortunately, no After a mid-air deaths (except to the birds) occurred and few collision with a flock of Canada injuries resulted. This is not always the case geese, US Air- with a mid-air plane bird strike. Pest man- ways flight 1549 agement at airports and surrounding areas crashed into the is hugely important, and not just for manag- Hudson River in ing birds, but for urban wildlife as well, to January, 2009. prevent pests from straying onto tarmacs or runways with potentially disastrous conse- quences. N P M A son, flown by US Airways, hit the birds no- Pest Wildlife Facts where near the La Guardia Airport, from which L I B R A R Y it took off. It was at 3,200 feet. Non-migratory Thirteen of the 14 bird species in U P D A T E geese commonly fly at that altitude when North America with mean body traveling from their feeding grounds to their masses greater than eight pounds roosting grounds. include: the more frequently encoun- tered Canada geese, turkeys, turkey A Growing Problem vultures, American white pelicans, Globally, wildlife strikes have killed more sand hill cranes, double-crested cor- than 219 people and destroyed over 200 air- morants and bald eagles. All of these craft since 1988. Three major factors contrib- bird species have shown significant ute to this increasing threat: 1) populations of population increases over the past wildlife species commonly involved in strikes three decades (Dolbeer and Eschen- have increased and are now well-adapted to felder 2003). living in urban environments like those around airports; 2) air traffic has increased substan- The white-tailed deer population tially since 1980; and 3) commercial air carriers increased from a low of about 350,000 are replacing their older three- or four-engine in 1900 to over 17 million in the past aircraft fleets with more efficient, quieter, two- decade (McCabe and McCabe 1997, engine aircraft that wildlife do not perceive Hubbard et al. 2000). easily. The FAA has initiated several programs to address this important safety issue. Among various programs are the collection and analy- The first annual report on wildlife strikes sis of data from post plane-wildlife strikes. FAA to civil aircraft in the United States, covering has collected wildlife strike data since 1965. In 1994, was completed in November, 1995. 1995, the FAA, through an interagency agree- Since then, annual subsequent reports have ment with the USDA, Wildlife Services, (USDA/ been published. These reports cover an 18-year WS), initiated a project to obtain more objec- period, 1990-2007. During this time frame, tive estimates of the magnitude and nature 79,972 bird strikes were reported; 63,973 of the national wildlife strike problem for civil provided some indication as to the nature and aviation. Such analyses are critical to determin- extent of any damage. Of these, 86% indicat- ing the economic cost of wildlife strikes, the ed the strike did not damage the aircraft; 8% magnitude of safety issues, and most impor- indicated the aircraft suffered minor damage; tant, the nature of the problems (e.g., wildlife 4% indicated the aircraft suffered substantial species involved, types of damage, height and damage; 3% reported an uncertain level of phase of flight during which strikes occur, and damage; and less than 1% indicated the air- seasonal patterns of strikes). The information craft was destroyed as a result of the strike. obtained from these analyses provides the Of the 1,737 terrestrial mammal strikes foundation for refinements in the develop- reported, 1,176 reports provided some indica- ment, implementation, and justification of tion as to the nature and extent of any dam- research and integrated pest management age. Of these, 39% indicated the strike did not (IPM) efforts to reduce wildlife strikes at and damage the aircraft; 27% indicated the aircraft near airports. suffered minor damage; 27% indicated the air- Nuisance bird and wildlife management is the fastest grow- ing sector of the pest management industry. In response to this growth, NPMA has developed a one-of-a-kind meeting — The Nuisance Bird and Wildlife Management Conference & Marketplace, November 18-20, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Geared toward the needs of pest management professionals and wildlife management professionals, this program will in- clude educational sessions (avian species track and ground wildlife track), a Marketplace, and networking opportunities. For more information, visit npmapestworld.org/events. Photo — http://www.100ambiente.it/uploads/birdstrike_02.jpg craft suffered substantial damage; 5% reported Wildlife Management N P M A an uncertain level of damage; and 2 percent Hazard Plan (WMHP) indicated the aircraft was destroyed as a result L I B R A R Y A variety of pest management methods of the strike. As would be expected, a much U P D A T E may be employed at airports including all of higher percentage of terrestrial mammal strikes the basic IPM (integrated pest management) (61%) resulted in aircraft damage than did bird steps. If birds, mammals or reptiles cannot strikes (14%). Deer were involved in 44% of the locate food, water or harborage (shelter), reported terrestrial mammal strikes. In 13% and then these pests will not be found on airport 54% of the bird and terrestrial mammal strike grounds. The basic IPM steps include Sani- reports, respectively, an adverse effect-on-flight tation, Exclusion, Mechanical Alteration or was reported. Three (3%) percent of bird strikes Modification, Non-Chemical and Chemical resulted in an aborted takeoff compared to methods all integrated into an overall Wildlife 17% of terrestrial mammal strikes. In addition Management Hazard Plan (called a WMHP) to birds and mammals, large reptiles, including scheme. Examples of sanitation measures at alligators and iguanas, have also accounted for airport grounds might include frequent mow- some wildlife strikes in semitropical to tropical ing, standing water abatement and proper geographical areas of the United States. trash management to prevent the presence of The most deadly civil (62 human fatalities, food, water, and shelter. Examples of exclu- Massachusetts, 1960) and military (34 fatalities, sion might include fencing and netting and Netherlands, 1996) bird strikes were caused ditches to prevent wildlife from entering by flocks of starlings. But, 166 identified bird airport areas. Mechanical alteration measures species have been reported as causing airplane might include things like proper grading and damage. These include: gulls (20%), doves/ drainage systems to remove water; pruning of pigeons (14%), raptors (13%), and waterfowl vegetation, removal of weeds, tree and plant (9%) as the most frequently struck bird groups. or fruit removal or alternative plantings to be Gulls are responsible for the greatest number of less attractive to wildlife, or removal of eggs bird strikes (27%) that had a negative effect-on- and/or nests from roosting areas. Non-chemical flight. measures might include trapping and removal The most frequently struck terrestrial mam- of problem wildlife; or scare techniques such mals are deer (46%) and coyotes (32%). Deer as canons and pyrotechnics to remove wildlife are responsible for 92% of the mammal strikes that result in damage and 80% of the mammal strikes that have a negative effect-on-flight. In all, 36 identified species of terrestrial mam- mals and eight identified species of bats were Air Travel Facts reported struck; 19 identified species of terres- trial mammals and two identified species of bat Passenger enplanements in the United States increased caused damage. from about 310 million in 1980 to a record 749 million in To address the problem, airport manag- 2007 and commercial air traffic increased from about 18 ers must work with wildlife pest management million aircraft movements in 1980 to over 28 million in professionals to assess wildlife hazards at their 2007, according to the FAA.