Birds at Heathrow
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Birds at Heathrow
Perhaps this may sound a silly question but.... Yesterday, I was on the grass bank adjacent to the Terminal 5 motorway spur, taking photos of aircraft departing Heathrow 27R. I noticed a bloody big buzzard circling around and thought "that is interesting". It then got more interesting as it was joined by others and in the end I counted 7 of them, all junior turkey size. They began circling and rising in a spiral and I figured out they were about half way between me and the extended runway centre line (about 200 yards off centre) and rising to a couple of hundred feet high. It was obvious the A320/B737 flights were nowhere near these birds but as I took this photograph: Ship Photos, Container ships, tankers, cruise ships, bulkers, tugs etc, Virgin flight VS7 (B747) took off for Los Angeles and was not very far above the birds. I had a thought that maybe it would be useful if I could warn someone about these birds but I didn't have a clue how to go about it. So, my daft question is; would ATC appreciate being advised of something like this and, if so, how does one go about it?
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Originally Posted by KelvinD
would ATC appreciate being advised of something like this and, if so, how does one go about it?
Probably red kites. They have been successfully reintroduced to the chilterns over the last few decades and gradually seen further and further afield in vast numbers. I don't suppose there is much that can be done to discourage them, but it would be nice to know someone is trying. They are a glorious sight, but probably not much fun to ingest half a dozen of them, shortly after departure.
Edit - oops, I've just seen the link to the pictures and stand corrected, but a wake of buzzards would not be much fun to ingest either.
Edit - oops, I've just seen the link to the pictures and stand corrected, but a wake of buzzards would not be much fun to ingest either.
Last edited by Dan Dare; 8th Oct 2013 at 16:12.
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Indeed, they were without doubt buzzards. They were getting quite high and weighing around 1 kilo, I could imagine them doing a lot of damage. I was beginning to wonder if my photography trip was going to turn into a "snap the broken engines" job!
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Disaster waiting to happen ?
Like most big airports, Heathrow allocates bird control as ONE of the tasks of Operations. ‘Ops’probably has 15 tasks on their list and when they prioritise, maybe taking vital paperwork to an aircraft is a higher priority than scaring a few birds. Some Ops officers sometimes feel that bird control is a lowly task and maybe below the skill tasks of an Operations Officer. Certainly most highly trained RFFS staff think that.
The ONLY way to remove birds is to CONTROL them. That’s why its called bird control and notbird scaring. The best way to control birds is to use a trained dedicated person who enjoys the job and accepts responsibility for clearing birds away from the airport. This person should decide the priority areas of concern and should be devoted to removing attractants which bring the birds to the airport in the first place.
The military set up and run dedicated bird control units(BCUs) on airports but only a few UK civil airports have BCUs. Until a Boeing 747 full of passengers is brought down by a birdstrike (Hudson River !!), airports will continue to paylip service to this vital safety fact.
If you see birds whilst taxiing – email the airport after landing and complain.
The ONLY way to remove birds is to CONTROL them. That’s why its called bird control and notbird scaring. The best way to control birds is to use a trained dedicated person who enjoys the job and accepts responsibility for clearing birds away from the airport. This person should decide the priority areas of concern and should be devoted to removing attractants which bring the birds to the airport in the first place.
The military set up and run dedicated bird control units(BCUs) on airports but only a few UK civil airports have BCUs. Until a Boeing 747 full of passengers is brought down by a birdstrike (Hudson River !!), airports will continue to paylip service to this vital safety fact.
If you see birds whilst taxiing – email the airport after landing and complain.
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I presume things have changed since I left Heathrow. Back in those far off days if birds were a problem we would ring "Ground Ops" who would immediately despatch a bird-scaring vehicle; I think it's callsign was "Seagull". Otherwise, "Seagull" would frequently be out on the airfield.
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HD, Seagull is still loitering around Heathrow. It is a full time job, and only certain Ops crews undertake Seagull tasking. I'd be interested to know what Vulcan Lover knows to the contrary.
The only task that Seagull regularly performs outside of habitat management and wildlife control is the routine runway inspection, and our procedures are to not delay the commencement of the inspection for more than a few minuted because Seagull needs to get back to its primary task.
The only task that Seagull regularly performs outside of habitat management and wildlife control is the routine runway inspection, and our procedures are to not delay the commencement of the inspection for more than a few minuted because Seagull needs to get back to its primary task.
Looks like Heathrow needs some Border Collies. I'd offer my two, but they only chase magpies.
Border collies working at Vancouver International Airport - YouTube
Border collies working at Vancouver International Airport - YouTube
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I fail to see any real benefit from use of the Border Collies. Border Collie chases away birds on area adjoining runway - birds take flight, and wheel around, and fly into path of jet taking off! 
Well it was a bit tongue in cheek onetrack, but it seems that Vancouver is using them (as well as more conventional methods), and I seem to remember another airport using them as well, can't recall which. But hey! What would they know?
And maybe they actually train the dogs to chase them in a particular way rather than just let them loose!
And maybe they actually train the dogs to chase them in a particular way rather than just let them loose!
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Like most big airports, Heathrow allocates bird control as ONE of the tasks of Operations. ‘Ops’probably has 15 tasks on their list and when they prioritise, maybe taking vital paperwork to an aircraft is a higher priority than scaring a few birds. Some Ops officers sometimes feel that bird control is a lowly task and maybe below the skill tasks of an Operations Officer. Certainly most highly trained RFFS staff think that.
The ONLY way to remove birds is to CONTROL them. That’s why its called bird control and notbird scaring. The best way to control birds is to use a trained dedicated person who enjoys the job and accepts responsibility for clearing birds away from the airport. This person should decide the priority areas of concern and should be devoted to removing attractants which bring the birds to the airport in the first place.
The military set up and run dedicated bird control units(BCUs) on airports but only a few UK civil airports have BCUs. Until a Boeing 747 full of passengers is brought down by a birdstrike (Hudson River !!), airports will continue to paylip service to this vital safety fact.
If you see birds whilst taxiing – email the airport after landing and complain
The ONLY way to remove birds is to CONTROL them. That’s why its called bird control and notbird scaring. The best way to control birds is to use a trained dedicated person who enjoys the job and accepts responsibility for clearing birds away from the airport. This person should decide the priority areas of concern and should be devoted to removing attractants which bring the birds to the airport in the first place.
The military set up and run dedicated bird control units(BCUs) on airports but only a few UK civil airports have BCUs. Until a Boeing 747 full of passengers is brought down by a birdstrike (Hudson River !!), airports will continue to paylip service to this vital safety fact.
If you see birds whilst taxiing – email the airport after landing and complain
Where on earth did you get that information? Total rubbish!
For a start, Ops don't take "vital paperwork" to a/c. Ever. They don't deal with airlines, or the airline operations side of it, maybe you're confusing the two. While you're correct that bird control is one of many responsibilities, do not be fooled into thinking that makes it a low ranking task. LHR has a 24hr bird patrol with a variety of bird scaring/control techniques, and if necessary they can use the second vehicle, normally allocated to surface inspections; they WILL use this when it's needed, because nobody wants to deal with the consequences.
Your post implies that you don't think many airports had bird control units? Not true, and it's not true that they pay lip service to the need either, it's a genuine concern for all airports and features high in the list of priorities.
As has already been said, it's the RISK that is controlled. Try and keep them away from the runways, keep their food source low so they're not attracted to the airfield, keep the grass at such a level that they can't spot prey or use it to hide in.
More research needed before posting me thinks
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Indeed - any CAA licenced airfield is required to have a wildlife management plan and undertake wildlife patrols as required by the risk assessments within - essentially this means that if you have scheduled commercial movements in progress then you need someone on wildlife control - even here at EMA the Ops department have at least one staff member dedicated to wildlife control and runways checks 24hrs a day. Even at 4am they are out keeping the bunnies and the foxes away from the runways (which I imagine is quite difficult as they cant patrol the taxiways at night)
It is most definitely not just "one thing on a list of things". For the duty bod wildlife control (and directly linked tasks such as carcass incineration) and runway checks (as the controller is also checking for wildlife as well as damage and FOD) are the only thing they will do for their shift. Other people (such as the duty ramp operative) will deal with the list of tasks for the day.
And I dont know what place Vulcan has been at but I guarentee that every single one of the Ops guys who are trained wildlife operatives are serious about bird control and do not take the role lightly.
And whilst Yes, most places dont have a dedicated BCU that doesnt mean that they dont take it seriously. At EMA it is part of the Airfield Safety Unit - why? Because it means that now you have 1 person on permanent bird control and if an unexpected increase in activity occurs then the ramp operative can come out onto the taxiways as a second bird control vehicle meaning that you have 1 BCO when you only need 1 and a second BCO also available if for some reaso you need 2 BCOs. At EMA the Ops Supervisors, Ops controllers and Airfield Duty Managers are all ALL trained and competent BCOs giving up to 5 BCOs on shift in case the brown stuff really hits the spinny thing.
And to the Poster above - CAP772 seems to mostly be a cut and paste job of selected extracts from 680 and unfortunately seems to, therefore, be an inferior document compared to the clear passion, knowledge and experience that was displayed throughout the truly comprehensive CAP680.
It is most definitely not just "one thing on a list of things". For the duty bod wildlife control (and directly linked tasks such as carcass incineration) and runway checks (as the controller is also checking for wildlife as well as damage and FOD) are the only thing they will do for their shift. Other people (such as the duty ramp operative) will deal with the list of tasks for the day.
And I dont know what place Vulcan has been at but I guarentee that every single one of the Ops guys who are trained wildlife operatives are serious about bird control and do not take the role lightly.
And whilst Yes, most places dont have a dedicated BCU that doesnt mean that they dont take it seriously. At EMA it is part of the Airfield Safety Unit - why? Because it means that now you have 1 person on permanent bird control and if an unexpected increase in activity occurs then the ramp operative can come out onto the taxiways as a second bird control vehicle meaning that you have 1 BCO when you only need 1 and a second BCO also available if for some reaso you need 2 BCOs. At EMA the Ops Supervisors, Ops controllers and Airfield Duty Managers are all ALL trained and competent BCOs giving up to 5 BCOs on shift in case the brown stuff really hits the spinny thing.
And to the Poster above - CAP772 seems to mostly be a cut and paste job of selected extracts from 680 and unfortunately seems to, therefore, be an inferior document compared to the clear passion, knowledge and experience that was displayed throughout the truly comprehensive CAP680.
Last edited by Burnie5204; 9th Oct 2013 at 21:16.
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Re Safeskys; I see they lease out those Air Traffic Controllers with the table tennis bats
