HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: Bird strikes are increasing

Michael Pangia, an aviation attorney in the YouTube video below, explains why a bird strike—especially one involving Canada geese—can bring down a plane. Every year, some “7,000 to 8,000 bird strikes are reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.” Apparently, reporting bird strikes, which are also known as BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard) is voluntary, and the remains of birds or snarge “are sent to the Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Laboratory to determine the species.” Bird strikes are becoming more frequent as urbanization takes place, and some species are adapting to urbanization or habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation. We are not only competing with species on land or in the seas, but for airspace too. From CNN.com:

In Rome, Italy, in November, a Boeing 737, which is very similar to the Airbus 320, flew through a flock of starlings and both engines were disabled. The pilot was able to land the plane on the runway, but it collapsed the landing gear and did extensive damage to the aircraft. There were a few injuries, but no one was killed.

Last March in Oklahoma City, a business jet was taking off and it struck a flock of white pelicans, which is another species which is increasing. It crashed into a wood lot and killed all five businesspeople aboard.

The root of the problem right now is that because of the very successful wildlife conservation programs in North America since the 1970s, we’ve seen a tremendous resurgence of many wildlife species, particularly large bird species — species that weigh over 4 pounds, including Canada geese, snow geese, bald eagles, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, turkey vultures and black vultures.

In fact, of the 36 species of birds in North America that weigh over 4 pounds, 24 of those have shown population increases, nine have shown stable populations and only one has shown a decline in the last 30 years. The Canada goose population in the United States — the resident Canada geese, not the migrant birds from Canada — has increased from 1 million birds in 1990 to about 3.9 million in 2008.

In addition to these populations increasing, they’ve also adapted to urban environments. They’re not afraid to associate with people. Traffic doesn’t bother them, aircraft don’t bother them. So they’re more likely to be seen near airports.

Another important factor is modern turbofan aircraft like the Airbus 320. Their engines are much quieter than older aircraft. And almost all the noise comes out of the back of the engine. Birds are less able to hear or see modern aircraft. There are more airplanes in the sky, more birds in the sky and this is where the conflict comes in.

The number of strikes being reported is definitely increasing. In 1990, the FAA had approximately 1,750 strikes reported. And in 2007, the last year we have data, we had 7,600.