Wildlife Hazard Management

Safety Takes More Than the Airport Fence

Most wildlife strikes happen in seconds.

A bird crosses the runway during take-off. A flock suddenly appears on final approach. An aircraft encounters wildlife while taxiing at night. A crew hears a loud impact shortly after departure.

But effective Wildlife Hazard Management (WHM) is not about reacting in those few seconds alone.

It is about everything that happens beforehand and afterwards: planning, monitoring, habitat management, reporting, analysis, learning and communication. Crucially, it involves many different people and organisations working together to understand and manage the risk. 

That is why Wildlife Hazard Management fits so naturally into EASA's Go Safe Together campaign.

No single team can manage wildlife risk alone.

Why Summer Matters

Summer brings increased wildlife activity across many parts of Europe. Migration patterns, breeding seasons, warmer temperatures and changing habitats can all influence bird and other wildlife activity around aerodromes and flight paths.

At the same time, aviation itself becomes busier. More flights, tighter schedules and higher traffic levels create more opportunities for aircraft and wildlife to come into conflict. 

Aircraft are particularly vulnerable during take-off and landing, when operating at lower altitude and high speed. Even relatively small birds can cause significant damage depending on where the impact occurs, while large birds and flocks can represent a serious operational safety risk.

Wildlife strikes can damage engines, windscreens, radomes, landing gear leading edges and flight control surfaces. But their consequences can extend much further: rejected take-offs, returns, diversions, aircraft inspections, delays and disruption can quickly affect the wider operation. 

Good WHM is therefore about more than regulatory compliance. It protects people, aircraft and operations while strengthening the resilience of the wider aviation system.

Safety Starts Long Before the Aircraft Arrives

When people think about wildlife management, they often picture an airport vehicle chasing birds away from a runway.

Active dispersal remains important but modern Wildlife Hazard Management is much broader.

Effective programmes combine an understanding of local wildlife behaviour with habitat management, operational monitoring, reporting and long-term data analysis. 

Practical measures can include regular inspections for wildlife activity, monitoring vegetation and land use, managing potential wildlife attractants, maintaining aerodrome fences and ensuring wildlife dispersal and control systems are available and effective.

But there is no single solution that works everywhere.

A coastal airport may face completely different challenges from an inland or rural airport. Urban aerodromes have different ecosystems again. Lakes, agricultural areas, waste sites, migration routes and other features in the surrounding environment can all influence wildlife activity. 

This makes understanding the local risk picture essential and that picture does not end at the perimeter. Wildlife don't recognise the airport fence.

Cooperation with local authorities, landowners and environmental organisations can therefore be just as important as measures taken on the aerodrome itself. 

Different Parts of the System, Different Parts to Play

Airports understandably carry much of the responsibility for active wildlife management on and around the aerodrome. Dedicated wildlife teams monitor activity, manage habitats and attractants, carry out inspections and respond when hazards emerge.

But they cannot see everything.

• Flight crews provide an important additional source of information by reporting strikes, sightings and operational concerns quickly and accurately.
• Ground staff may find evidence of a strike or damage during a turnaround.
• Engineers conduct follow-up inspections and may find evidence that was not apparent to the crew.
• Airline safety and operational teams can analyse wildlife occurrences across their networks and identify patterns involving particular locations, seasons or operating conditions.
• Manufacturers and authorities can help assess wider safety implications and identify appropriate mitigations. 

This is Together in practice.

One individual observation may appear insignificant. Several observations from different parts of the system may reveal something much more important.

Looking Across the Network: The Airline Perspective

Airlines also have an important role because they see wildlife risk from a different perspective.

An individual airport has the detailed local picture. An airline can look across its entire network.

By analysing wildlife strikes, bird sightings and other wildlife-related reports, operators can identify patterns that might otherwise be difficult to see. Are strikes increasing at a particular airport? Are they concentrated during particular months or times of day? Are crews repeatedly reporting significant bird activity at the same location?

EASA guidance encourages airlines to monitor bird and wildlife strikes across their route networks, identify where the greatest exposure exists and use this information as a basis for engagement with aerodromes and authorities.

This is where safety data can become safety action.

Rather than simply counting the number of strikes, operators can use their Safety Management Systems to identify locations where the level or nature of the risk deserves greater attention. They can then engage directly with the relevant airport, sharing their information and comparing it with the airport's more detailed knowledge of local wildlife activity.

That conversation matters.

The airport may already be seeing the same trend. Or information collected by an airline across multiple flights may reveal something that changes the local risk picture. Together, they can explore what is happening and whether additional monitoring, habitat management, wildlife control or operational mitigations may be appropriate.

This should not be about an airline telling an airport how to manage its wildlife.

It is about putting two different views of the same risk together.

The airport has the local expertise. The airline has the network perspective.

Together, they have a better safety picture.

Reporting Matters More Than People Think

One of the most valuable parts of Wildlife Hazard Management often happens after an encounter.

Good reporting helps airports, operators and authorities understand where strikes and sightings are occurring, which species are involved, what conditions existed at the time and whether the level of risk is changing. 

That information can help identify migration patterns, seasonal changes or particular locations where wildlife activity is increasing. It can also inform changes to habitat management and other mitigation measures.

Never assume that somebody else will report it.

A sighting, suspected strike or apparently minor event may be one small piece of a much bigger picture. Good reporting gives safety teams the raw material they need to identify trends.

But collecting the report is only the first step.

After a Strike: Close the Information Loop

When a birdstrike occurs, there is understandably an immediate focus on the aircraft and the operation.

Is there damage? Is an inspection required? Can the aircraft continue safely? What are the operational consequences?

But once those immediate issues have been addressed, there is another important question:

Who else needs to know?

Information about a wildlife strike needs to get back to the people who can use it to manage the risk—and that particularly includes the airport where the event occurred.

A useful report should contain as much operational information as possible: where and when the strike occurred, the phase of flight, approximate altitude, what the crew saw, whether one bird or a flock was involved, the part of the aircraft affected and any damage or operational consequences subsequently identified.

The information available to the airline after an aircraft inspection may also be different from the information available to the airport immediately after the event.

Sharing it closes the loop.

Without that feedback, an airport's wildlife team may only have part of the story. With it, they can compare the occurrence with their own wildlife observations, local activity and previous strikes and decide whether the event indicates a changing risk.

This is another area where Together has a very practical meaning:

Crew → airline → airport → wildlife specialists → mitigation and learning.

Information needs to flow around the system rather than disappear into separate reporting databases.

Don't Throw Away the Evidence

Even when the crew cannot identify the species involved, there may still be an opportunity to find out.

Where bird or wildlife remains are found on the aircraft, collecting appropriate samples for identification can add significant value to the investigation and the wider risk picture.

Depending on the circumstances and procedures available, this might involve feathers, tissue or other remains found during the aircraft inspection. These can potentially be analysed to help determine the species involved.

Why does that matter?

Because “birdstrike” tells us what happened. Knowing the species can help us understand why.

Different species behave differently. They have different feeding patterns, habitats, migration behaviour, flocking characteristics, body masses and seasonal activity.

Accurate identification can therefore help specialists determine whether an occurrence reflects an isolated encounter or something that should influence the airport's wildlife risk assessment or management programme.

It can also make trend analysis much more useful. Ten unidentified birdstrikes provide information. Knowing that several involve the same species, at the same location and during the same period of the year provides much more.

This makes the follow-up after a strike a team effort too. Flight crews report what they experienced. Engineers and ground personnel look for evidence during the aircraft inspection. Where appropriate, remains are collected and preserved for specialist analysis in accordance with relevant procedures. The resulting information can then be shared with the airport and fed back into the wider safety picture.

Report it. Share it. Sample it where possible. Learn from it.

The value of a wildlife report is not simply that it records yesterday's birdstrike. It is that the information can help reduce tomorrow's risk.

Don't Let Summer Pressure Change the Decision

Wildlife hazards become particularly important when considered alongside the other pressures of summer operations.

Busy schedules can create pressure to minimise delays and recover disruption quickly. But wildlife does not become less hazardous because the schedule is tight.

A runway that appeared clear a few minutes ago may suddenly experience significant bird activity. Weather, lighting and activity in the surrounding environment can change wildlife behaviour rapidly. 

This is exactly where the wider messages from our Go Safe This Summer – Together campaign matter.

Maintain situational awareness. Carry out the inspection properly. Report concerns early. Follow local procedures. Share information.

And don't allow operational pressure to turn an uncertain situation into an unnecessary risk.

The People Behind Wildlife Management

Wildlife Hazard Management is also a highly specialised activity that is sometimes largely invisible to the rest of the aviation system.

Wildlife teams need to understand animal behaviour, local habitats, seasonal patterns, operational requirements and the practical techniques available to manage wildlife safely around an active airport.

They are some of aviation's less visible safety professionals. Their work may not always be apparent to passengers—or even to many people working elsewhere at the airport—but it plays an important role in keeping aircraft operations safe.

Their effectiveness also depends on the rest of the aviation system giving them good information and respecting the operational decisions made when wildlife activity increases.

Working Together Beyond Compliance

Wildlife hazards can never be eliminated completely.

Aviation operates within the natural environment, and wildlife behaviour will always contain an element of unpredictability.

The objective is therefore to understand the risk and manage exposure.

The strongest systems are those where information flows openly, concerns are shared early and airports, airlines, crews, ground handlers, engineers, authorities, local stakeholders and wildlife specialists see themselves as contributors to the same safety outcome. 

That moves Wildlife Hazard Management beyond simply meeting a regulatory requirement.

It becomes part of how the aviation system manages risk together.

Wildlife Hazard Management Safety Map

🧠 Mindset: 

Wildlife hazards are dynamic and constantly changing. Stay alert and avoid assuming that because conditions were safe a few minutes ago, they remain safe now.

👥 People: 

Effective Wildlife Hazard Management depends on communication and teamwork between airports, airlines, flight crews, ground staff, engineers, authorities and specialist wildlife teams.

⚙️ Equipment: 

Aircraft inspections, monitoring systems, dispersal equipment and reporting tools all support safer operations when used consistently and correctly.

📋 Compliance: 

Wildlife management plans, inspections and occurrence reporting requirements provide the framework, but effective risk management also depends on organisations actively sharing useful safety information.

⚠️ Risks: 

Summer traffic, changing wildlife patterns and operational pressure can combine to increase exposure during busy periods.

📚Learning: 

Every sighting, strike report and species identification adds another piece to the safety picture. Airlines can identify trends across their networks and share relevant information with airports, while airports combine this with their detailed knowledge of local wildlife activity. Learning becomes much more powerful when information is shared. 

Safety Beyond the Fence

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Wildlife Hazard Management will always be challenging because aviation operates within the natural environment, not outside it.

But aviation is highly effective at reducing these risks through preparation, professionalism, good data and cooperation.

And perhaps the most important message is that everyone sees a different part of the picture.

A pilot sees the flock on approach.

An engineer finds the remains on the aircraft.

An airline sees a developing trend across repeated operations.

An airport understands the local wildlife population and habitat.

A specialist identifies the species.

A safety team brings the information together.

Only by connecting those pieces do we get the full picture.

Because successful Wildlife Hazard Management is not created by one vehicle on one runway. It is created by airports, airlines, crews, engineers, ground staff, authorities, local stakeholders and wildlife specialists sharing information and working together to understand the risk before the next strike occurs.