On May 27, 1966, I visited what was then called Toronto Island Airport (now called Billy Bishop Airport) at the behest of the airport’s manager, who thought I might be able to do something to reduce the risk birds caused to airplanes as they landed at, or took off from, the small airport, located at the southern edge of Toronto, and surrounded on three sides with water. Terns, migrating shorebirds, Bonaparte’s and ring-billed gulls, and geese were then the main concern, along with other species. A shotgun was cruelly ineffective.
Everything I suggested was vetoed on the grounds that it was not allowed according to various government regulations, or because the cost would exceed the budget. It was frustrating.
In the years that followed, the solution to this problem was for the most part to shoot the birds and other animals, with coyotes and deer also significant hazards, or to chase the birds with trained falcons, or both. When the public learned of the number of hawks and owls shot at Toronto International Airport (now Pearson International Airport, Canada’s busiest airport), there was outrage. There was a shift toward capturing and relocating the hawks and owls.
In 1992, I actually received a medal awarded by a federal Member of Parliament for my report on the problem caused by deer at Pearson, but still I was frustrated, and not sure it made much, if any, difference. Companies that were emerging to provide services still applied horribly destructive and ineffective methodologies. But, things were changing.
Two weeks ago, I found myself attending the 2018 Bird Strike Biennial Conference, hosted by the Bird Strike Association of Canada, in Vaudreuil, Quebec. I had earned a Certificate of Completion of Airport Wildlife Management Training three years earlier and wanted to see new developments and make new contacts.
I wish I could tell you that “lethal” control of airport wildlife has been achieved in Canada. It has not, with one exception! Although risks have decreased, there is now no lethal management at Billy Bishop Airport, where once I was so frustrated, even though it is surrounded by quality urban wildlife habitat.
However, lethal control has been significantly, and at times hugely, reduced at airports in Canada while efficiency at removing the hazard for airplanes through application of new technology and protocols has been greatly enhanced. Conference speakers addressed such issues as the need and methods of collecting data on bird strikes; advancements in tools, such as drones shaped like falcons but directed by controllers; radar capable of predicting hazards before they occurred; habitat modification; community relations and habitat modification in the communities surrounding airports, even including a way to make runways that worms would not crawl upon (as worms attract large numbers of gulls). Research went down to the micro-organism level and up to the need for continued assessments of procedures, the education of airport management and government regulatory bodies, and, as always, the prioritizing of funding.
The flow of ideas and experiences was exhilarating, with much more to be done, but I remembered back to those dark days when first I became involved with this issue and felt optimistic about what’s happening.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry