Bird strike risk and Avoidance

Despite the bird's ability to fly without any mechanical help, they tend
to stay at lower heights, close to the ground, where they can find food,
water, shelter and mating partners. Hence:

• 60% of bird strike occurs below 500 ft (approx. 150 m),

• 90% below 1500 ft (approx. 500 m), and
• almost 100% below 3500 ft (approx. 1200 m)

Long grass provides cover for ground based predators; insects and little
rodents (food for birds) are more difficult to find than in short grass;
birds are more vulnerable in long grass due to the fact that if attacked,
it takes them longer to react and flee (longer to spread the wings in a
long grass, etc.. .). ICAO recommends to maintain the grass at least
20 cm high - thus it is not so attractive for the birds.

According to EU-OPS 1.420 recommendations:

"(i) A commander shall immediately inform the local air traffic service unit
whenever a potential bird hazard is observed. ", and

"(ii) If he is aware that a bird strike has occurred, a commander shall

submit a written bird strike report after landing to the Authority
whenever an aircraft for which he is responsible suffers a bird strike
that results in significant damage to the aircraft or the loss or
malfunction of any essential service. If the bird strike is discovered
when the commander is not available, the operator is responsible for
submitting the report."

By the provisions in ICAO Annex 14, Aerodrome Design and Operations,

Volume I, bird strikes are required to be reported at national (member
State) level.
Section 9.4.2 of the same Annex requires that "Bird strike reports shall be
collected and forwarded to ICAO for inclusion in the ICAO Bird Strike
Information System (IBIS) database"
To facilitate this obligation. States are expected to take appropriate
action to collect data from aircraft and airport operators, although the
effectiveness of this process varies very widely and geographical bias in
the overall data coverage results.
 Bird strike risk and Avoidance
Information relating to bird strike hazard can be found:

(a) in the ICAO Bird Strike Information System (IBIS);

(b) on Aeronautical documents (AlP), Charts and supplements;
(c) in ATS messages, e.g. NOTAM, ATIS.

Plus, a commander shall immediately inform the local air traffic service
unit whenever a potential bird hazard is observed. Note that some
countries pUblish BIRDTAMs, but this type of aeronautical information
does not exist in ICAO Annexes.

The ICAO Bird Strike Information System (IBIS) is a reporting system

designed to collect and disseminate information on bird strikes which
occur as a result ofa collision between an aircraft and a bird. Data supplied
by Contracting States and aircraft operators to ICAO are stored
in a computer for easy retrieval and analysis. (Source: ICAO Doc 9332,
IBIS manual)

In general terms, auditory techniques are more effective than other

techniques (visual, chemical, etc.). The use of recorded distress calls
(of the birds, not the airplanes:) is considered the most efficient and
cost effective method for dispersing birds from aerodromes. This
method involves playing recorded sounds of birds in distress - this has
a tendency to scare away other birds as they recognize the distress
"calls" of other birds.
Another very effective technique is firing shell crackers (simply making a
lot of noise using pyrotechnics), but as far as its effectivity, it is less
effective than the distress call broadcasting.