BIRD HAZARDS AND AIRCRAFT 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     In an era of supersonic flights 
     
     and highly sophisticated gadgetry, 
     
    
   
   
    
     the world's airlines are still at the‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     mercy of birds. This hazard has 
     
     existed since aviation began. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The first human fatality, 
     
     caused by a collision between a 
     
     bird and an aircraft, was rec0rded 
     
     in l9l2. Since then such collisions 
     
     have increased to an average of 200 
     
     per year for the Canadian Armed 
     
     Forces alone. The problem has 
     
     become more acute in recent years, 
     
     due not only to higher aircraft 
     
     speeds and increased air traffic, 
     
     but also to the vulnerability of 
     
     the jet engine. 
     
    
   
   
    
     To date, 60 is the largest 
     
     number of deaths resulting from a 
     
     collision between a bird and an 
     
     aircraft. The monetary losses to 
     
     airline companies due to a 
     
     collision can be great, totalling 
     
     in the millions of dollars. 
     
     Research to reduce these losses has 
     
     been concentrated in three areas: 
     
    

    
     1) Reducing the bird numbers in 
     
     the vicinity of the airport 
     
     where 70 to 80 per cent of 
     
     the collisions occur. 
     
    
   
   
    
     2) Modification in aircraft design 
     
     so that aircraft are better able 
     
     to withstand collisions. 
     
    
   
   
    
     3) The detection of large bird 
     
     groups by radar and subsequent 
     
     diversion of aircraft from 
     
     these areas. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In Canada, research on the 
     
     second and third methods has been 
     
     c0ncentrated in the Ottawa area 
     
     under the direction of the 
     
     Associate Committee on Bird 
     
     Hazards to Aircraft. Research on 
     
     the problem in the United States 
     
     has been carried out at the Bird 
     
     Aircraft Strike Headquarters (BASH) 
     
     in Florida. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The first method has received 
     
     the greatest attention both through- 
     
     out the world and in the Maritimes. 
     
     Birds frequent airports in order to 
     
     loaf, nest, roost or feed. Changes 
     
     made to airports to reduce the 
     
    
   
   
    
     attractiveness of the airfields 
     
     such as draining ponds, filling 
     
     ditches, cutting trees, shrubs and 
     
     hedgerows, have proved very 
     
     effective. Chemical bird 
     
     repellants and mechanical scaring 
     
     tactics have met with some success. 
     
     Biological predation techniques 
     
     such as the use of trained hawks 
     
     and falcons, or the introduction 
     
     of foxes has been successful in 
     
     some circumstances. Recent 
     
     research studied methods of 
     
     reducing the food sources through 
     
     changes in the vegetational cover. 
     
     Different vegetation often 
     
     harbours specific insect and 
     
     mammal species. When a plant 
     
     cover, which harbours a low 
     
    
   
   
    
     insect and manmal population 
     
    
   
   
    
     -or a population which is not 
     
    
   
   
    
     being eaten by birds, is grown 
     
     in the airport-area, the birds 
     
     have a reduced food source and 
     
     often choose another area to 
     
     frequent. Studies have shown 
     
     that the mouse eared hawkweed, 
     
     Hieracium ilosella fills the 
     
     W};— 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mouse eared hawkweed 
     
     provides cover for very few 
     
     small mammals and only a low 
     
     insect population. In addition, 
     
     the insects, when present, seem 
     
     to be protected from the birds 
     
     by the flat leaves. The plant 
     
     was tested at several airports 
     
     in the Maritimes including 
     
     CFB Summerside. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the Maritimes, gulls 
     
     seem to be the biggest problem. 
     
     At CFB Greenwood Nova Scotia, where 
     
     mouse eared hawkweed grows naturally, 
     
     and where tracts were planted, 
     
     almost no gull use was made of the 
     
     airport. 
     
    
   
   
    
     At Seven Islands International 
     
     Airport in Quebec a change in cover 
     
     changed a situation of frequent bird 
     
     strikes, and large numbers of gulls 
     
     frequenting the airport to one where 
     
     gulls were an infrequent occurrence. 
     
    
   
   
    
     At CFB Summerside the success 
     
     of-using mouse eared hawkweed to 
     
     reduce gull population was limited 
     
     due to the proximity of the ocean,