UK Airfield Bird Control

[Older and Wider]

Do any UK airfields, apart from DY and DR, use Birds of Prey for active bird control on the airfiled? I don't need to know about occasional use to clear pigeons from hangars. This is to aid research into airfield bird strike risk. TVM

[Eggs Petition]

NM certainly used to, several days a week. At that time I think NV and NT were also but I stand to be corrected...?

Guess it depend on the type of bird (Lapwings at Leeds) that affects your a/d but my impression was that using a Hawk, or whatever it was, certainly worked very well.

[Vulcan Lover]

The Royal Navy use birds of prey at Yeovilton, they tried it at Lossiemouth when it was a Navy base but guess what the first bird strike was with ?? Yep the bloody hawk.

Blackpool and Leeds use birds of prey and Newquay claim to and even pay for the service but have yet to get birds of prey.

Exeter has occasional use of hawks.

The biggest problem with birds of prey is that they get tired quickly and only scare other birds when they are hungry. So you need quite a few birds. The other problem is that the operators are usually keen falconers and enjoy flying their birds better than operating them as bird deterrents. Thus two operators are required for safety. One to fly and keep an eye on the bird and one to keep an eye on the airport safety situation, drive the vehicle, write up the logbook, talk to ATC and keep an overall picture of the bird problems on the airfield.

Birds of prey can be effective but will never be better than a trained Bird Control Operator.

[Sir George Cayley]

I agree, and a friend who's a Falconer agrees too. Far too labour intensive to make economic sense, though as newsworthy copy it can boost an airports image.

Don't put effort into moving birds off of your aerodrome, find out why they come there and eradicate the reason.:ok:

If you see the grass on your airfield as a kind of Sainsbury for birds then removing the attractants like clover, invertebrate food, leatherjackets, voles, mice and other green type food will result in less birds. With more money getting rid of water such as ponds or streams will improve matters too.

It's not rocket science. Simple actions pursued to the logical conclusion work.

Sir George Cayley

[MichaelBuckle]

The RAF Fairford bird control unit has been known to use a bird of prey on the airfield.

He's a civilian contractor, so I suspect other USAFE bases may also use the same company?

Mike

[42psi]

Not used at EGCC.

Understand it's been tried in the past but as has been pointed out, once they've had a snack not much else happens.

Environmental and food chain control is more effective ....

[cleondann]

Bird strike is really a critical issue for air traffic control. I think government have to do something like pest bird control deterrents for home buildings. They are really useful to save our property by bugs and pest and bird waste. :oh:

[Jeremy Gilbert]

there is the issue of food; airports provide birds with several dining options including seeds, berries, grass, insects, earthworms, small birds and small mammals. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/nerd.gifMany airports house large bodies of water for aesthetic purposes or for waste and flood management. These supply small fish, tadpoles, frogs, insect larvae, other invertebrates and edible aquatic plants. Gulls, waterfowl, shorebirds and marsh birds are pulled to this environment.:=
Some of the equipment to get rid of pigeons are listed below :
1.Audible Bird Repellers
2.Bird Control Decoys
3.Bird Netting
4.Bird Spikes
5.Bird Proof Gel
6.Bird Repellent Spray
7.Ultrasonic bird repellers
:O

[LXGB]

Falconry was tried when I worked at Gibraltar. The usual result was about 2000 Gulls lifting and mobbing the poor bird.

The same thing happened when a knackered and slightly lost Griffon Vulture passed overhead. Big bird! Didn't stand a chance against the Gulls though. They forced it down on to the RWY. We managed to keep it safe while it got it's breath back, then directed it over the airfield fence to Spain.


Just had a look in CAP772 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP772.pdf). It mentions Birds of Prey in the following two sections:

3.2.13 Other Methods and Techniques
3.2.13.1 Other techniques include the use of Birds of prey, animals (dogs), unfamiliar objects
and startling actions (such as brightly coloured windmills and gas cannons) and
scarers that mimic predators such as radio controlled hovercraft and model aircraft,
imitation hawks and foxes, scarecrows, and kites and balloons.
4.8.1 There is a common but false belief that wild Birds of prey keep other species away
from aerodromes and that their presence on an aerodrome may be beneficial. Birds
of prey are dependent on abundant prey, and will therefore be attracted to
aerodromes with abundant small mammal or bird populations.
4.8.2 Flocks of smaller birds often mob Raptors and the prolonged disturbance they cause
could increase the birdstrike risk on the aerodrome.


Cheers,

LXGB

[Ceannairceach]

We have a raptor man at Prestwick Centre who keeps the seagulls and crows from attacking us, as they used to in the car park, with his fine collection of birds.

Some of my birds in the past would scare the crows too. Ho ho.

[BirdController]

At an RAF AAR/AT base somewhere in West Oxfordshire we wouldnt employ raptors on the airfield (though very occasionally the RAF will use them to clear hanger infestations via Rentakil or suchlike).

Main reasons being: they can only be used during non-flying periods as they are a bird-strike risk in their own right, they are often mobbed by other birds (last week a Peregrine Falcon resting on runway was surrounded by some 20 rooks), they get fed-up quickly which mean several birds would be required - as we normally operate as 'lone workers' on RAF airfields this is impracticable.

The ultimate deterrent continues to be a man/woman with a big gun! (along with a little yellow truck making strange noises and using bird scaring cartridges when required) :ok::ok::ok:

[Helen49]

Blackpool Airport believed to be a user of birds of prey.