Bird Strike Committee Proceedings
Date of this Version
August 2000
Abstract
Bird controllers have recognized for many years that the frequency of bird strikes is related in some way to weather conditions. Previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between bird strike frequency and rainfall on certain airfields. This paper takes bird strike data from five major UK airports and relates them to a variety of weather parameters. It then examines the relationships found on a species by species basis and uses differences in the ecology of the birds involved to suggest the mechanisms by which weather may influence bird strike frequency. The data can be used to better target bird control effort in relation to meteorological conditions and may be important in developing bird avoidance models for airports.