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An ecological approach to birdstrike risk analysis

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Abstract

Airports are peculiar developed habitats that, besides being extremely noisy and unappealing to some bird species, are highly attractive to others. Bird–aircraft collisions, or birdstrikes, cause losses in terms of human lives, direct monetary losses and associated costs for the civil aviation industry. In recent years, birdstrike risk assessment studies have focused on the economical aspects of the damage caused by wild animals and the hazards of wildlife–aircraft collisions, while an ecological approach, taking into account animal behaviour for the analysis of such events, has seldom been adopted. We conducted a risk analysis for birdstrikes at the Venice Marco Polo International Airport (VCE), Italy. We defined the key variables involved in these events and summarised their interactions in a single metric risk index we called the “Birdstrike Risk Index” (BRI). Our aim was to provide a tool for birdstrike risk analysis that described the risk on the basis of the actual presence of birds at airports. The application of the BRI at VCE allows relative risks across species to be defined, providing information for prioritising management actions. Furthermore, due to the seasonality of bird species presences, the application of the BRI to a long-term data series should give clues of birdstrike risk in future scenarios. This new ecological approach that we applied to a particular airport could easily be adapted for use at other airports worldwide and integrated into risk assessment procedures. The study results and the BRI tool are addressed to scientific consultants of airport safety managers.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank L. Panzarin and SAVE-Safety Bird Control Unit operators for assistance with the field work. Special thanks go to A. Andreon for his assistance and help in developing the project. We are grateful to M. Zucchetta and to E. Coraci for advice and help in developing the BRI index and to D. Giunchi, J. Lindström and to an anonymous referee for their useful comments on the manuscript. Financial support was received from the SAVE S.p.a.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University Ca’Foscari of Venice, Castello 2737/B, 30122, Venice, Italy

    Cecilia Soldatini, Vyron Georgalas, Patrizia Torricelli & Yuri V. Albores-Barajas

Authors
  1. Cecilia Soldatini
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  2. Vyron Georgalas
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  3. Patrizia Torricelli
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  4. Yuri V. Albores-Barajas
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Correspondence to Cecilia Soldatini.

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Communicated by W. Lutz

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Soldatini, C., Georgalas, V., Torricelli, P. et al. An ecological approach to birdstrike risk analysis. Eur J Wildl Res 56, 623–632 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0359-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0359-z

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