The number of bird strike incidents at Britain's airports has nearly doubled with three ''significant hits'' a week, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
In both 2011 and 2012 more than 2,200 bird strike reports were recorded by the CAA, nearly 1,000 more than in 2007 when just 1,299 were reported.
There has also been a steady rise in the number of cases in which pilots have reported damage to their aircraft, rising from 132 in 2010 to 167 in 2012.
In two cases pilots were forced to issue MAYDAY calls. One involved an Airbus A321 flying out of Luton, which was hit by a flock of birds shortly after take off, forcing the pilot to shut off an engine. The other saw an Airbus A320 having to return to Heathrow shortly after a bird struck take off after one of its engines shortly after take off. Other incidents have included a passenger jet declaring an emergency after being hit by greenfinches as it came in to land at Gatwick.
The most spectacular recent bird strike incident took place in New York in 2009 when a US Airways Airbus A320 was forced to ditch into the Hudson River after being hit by a large flock of birds.
Recognised as a global aviation problem, airports have become increasingly imaginative in their efforts to keep birds and aircraft apart. At Fort Myers, Florida, a border collie, called Sky, has been used to scare birds away from the runway.
Bird strikes damage three aircraft a week - Telegraph