Collisions of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo Jamaicensis), Turkey Vultures(Cathartes Aura), and Black Vultures (Coragyps Atratus) with Aircraft: Implications for Bird Strike Reduction

From 1990 through 2003, 52 493 wildlife collisions with aircraft were reported to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); 97% of these incidents involved birds.The approximate cost to the civil aviation industry in the U.S.A. due to collisions of birds with aircraft (hereafter referred to as bird strikes) was $163.51 million in direct monetary losses and associated costs for the 14-yr period (Cleary et al. 2004).Strikes with raptors (Falconidae and Accipitridae; including vultures, Cathartidae) accounted for approximately 28% of reported aircraft down time resulting from known-species bird strikes (known species 5 182 942 hr; total for all birds 5 244 510 hr) and represented a $12.9 million loss to U.S. civil aviation (Cleary et al. 2004).However, these figures are misleading relative to actual costs; of 7265 reports of wildlife strikes involving damage to the aircraft, only 1759 reports provided cost estimates (Cleary et al. 2004).Because of their size (at least six North Americannesting raptor species have a mean body mass .1.8kg) and flight behavior (e.g., flocking or soaring), strikes with raptors pose a substantial threat to air safety relative to FAA airworthiness standards for airframes, windshields, and engines (Seamans et al. 1995, Dolbeer andEschenfelder 2003).Recent work by Dolbeer (2006) shows that for bird strikes (1990-June 2003) #152.4 m above ground level (AGL), passerines, gulls/terns (Laridae), doves (Columbidae), and raptors (including vultures) were the species groups most frequently struck.For strikes .152.4 m AGL, waterfowl (Anatidae), gulls/terns, passerines, and vultures were the species groups most frequently struck.Notably, for strikes resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft (Dolbeer et al. 2000, Cleary et al. 2004), 66% occurred at #152.4 m AGL (Dolbeer 2006).