Bird strikes during 2013

White-backed Vultures outwit researchers

An attempt was made to capture two vultures from the Seeis colony adjacent to Hosea Kutako, in order to fit tracking devices. This would enable WARN to track movements of the vultures, identifying feeding sites or other reasons for the prox-imity of the colony to the airport.

With the kind assistance of the Trumper family from Oupembamewa, baited traps were placed in the riverbed. The vultures showed little interest in the bait, their keen eyesight and suspicious nature prov-ing superior to their interest in food. The capture site will now be moved to N/a’an ku eê, where it is suspected that

birds from the Seeis colony routinely feed, and will there-fore be less suspicious. Spe-cial thanks for technical assis-tance in planning the capture goes to Holger Kolberg of the Ministry of Environment, Mike and Ann Scott from Namibrand, Maria Diekmann from REST and Liz Komen from NARREC—all vulture conservation experts.

Morgan Hauptfleisch Wildlife and Aircraft Research Namibia (WARN) University of the Free-State Centre for Environmental Management; Polytechnic of Namibia, Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment In collaboration with the Namibia Airports Company (NAC), the Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment, the Polytechnic of Namibia, the National Museum of Namibia, and the National Museum of South Africa Detailed reports and research results are available on request, the newsletter merely gives a broad summary

NEWSLETTER DATE: JUNE 2013

VOLUME 2, ISSUE VII

WILDLIFE AND AIRCRAFT RESEARCH NAMIBIA PROJECT (WARN)

Sponsored by:

Morgan L Hauptfleisch P.O. Box 6322 Ausspannplatz, Windhoek 081 124 1365 (cel) 061 207 2228 (tel) 061 207 2143 (fax) birdstrikenam@gmail.com

Get to know birds that may Get to know birds that may Get to know birds that may Get to know birds that may

be a hazard to aircraftbe a hazard to aircraftbe a hazard to aircraftbe a hazard to aircraft.

Kori Bustard (Kori Bustard (Kori Bustard (Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori)Ardeotis kori)Ardeotis kori)Ardeotis kori)

Weighing up to 20kg it is the world’s

heaviest flying bird and has the potential

to cause extensive damage to aircraft. It

occurs throughout much of Namibia where

it prefers dry savannas and semi-desert.

A pair were observed at Hosea Kutako in

early May, and immediately repelled.

Since the beginning of the

year we received 10 bird

strike reports at Eros Airport,

from pilots, flight operators

and the NAC’s emergency

services. 5 of these incidents

took place in February in-

volving Yellow-billed Kites.

As a result of low rainfall and

the shortage of food else-

where the Kites congregated

in large flocks over Wind-

hoek to scavenge. March and

April were quiet months, but

in May four strikes were

again reported, three involv-

ing large birds (Black-

Headed Heron, Spotted Ea-

gle Owl and Steppe Buzzard)

which could have been seri-

ous. Compared to the rest of

the country, Eros Airport has

by far had the most bird

strike reports, as only two

other strikes were reported to

our centre (both at Hosea

Kutako). Luckily none of the

incidents have resulted in

more than a small dent in an

aircraft flap. We suspect the

high report-rate for Eros is

mostly the result of the regu-

lar visits from the WARN-

interns to the flight operators,

asking for any wildlife-

aircraft related news, as well

as more diligent reporting

(Above: bird strikes re-

ported per month at Eros)

by flight operators at Eros.

Scenic Air, Desert Air, West

Air and Trustco, deserve a

special mention as theyal-

ways keep us up to date with

reports from their pilots, for

which we are very grateful.

Other airports and operators,

please:” we cannot manage

what we don’t measure!”.

0

1

2

3

4

5

DNA analysis now available

Knowing what birds are responsible

for collisions is important in trying to

prevent a reoccurrence. The correct

identification of wildlife species

involved in collisions with aircraft is

often difficult, especially if only a

few feathers or a blood smear re-

mains.

We are pleased to announce that

DNA identification of bird strikes can

now be done through the kind assis-

tance of the Cheetah Conservation

Fund’s genetics laboratory. They

have agreed to conduct the analyses at

minimum cost, all that is required are

a few feathers, blood or tissue.

Insects tell us how productive airport sites are

Experiment to test the influence of apron lights

ach contents of most birds

showed a high percentage of

insects with a few surprises

such as small birds in some

birds of prey. This clearly

shows us that birds are not

only attracted to the airports

by insects only. Small birds

that come for insects end up

attracting big raptors that

are so much dangerous to

planes. Results of my ob-

servations indicate that birds

are mostly often attracted to

the two airports, especially

early in the morning, to feed

on insects that were at-

tracted to the apron lights at

night.

Stomach content analysis proving useful

Over the past six months

Kefilwe Mogotsi has been

collecting data on the stom-

ach contents of struck birds

from Eros and Hosea Ku-

tako airports. In addition he

conducted observations of

birds feeding at the airports,

to try to determine what

they were feeding on. Stom-

“thanks”

Many thanks to the following persons for assistance with

this research: Norman Pule, , Mia Davids, Toska Sem, Bernard

Sinvula, Johannes Vries, Oscar Hamutenya, Jason Kweyo, (and many other friendly NAC staff ), Marco

Konings, Will Dalling, Seth Eiseb, Apolonia DIerks Dr. Peter Tarr , John Pallett, Gudrun Denker, Dr. Nico

Avenant, Jurie du Plessis, Dr. Chris Brown, Dr. John Mendelsohn, Dr. Ann and Mike Scott, Maria Diekmann

Prof. Maitland Seaman, Dr. Daan Toerien, Dr. Willie Jankowitz, Peter Keil, Nico Kopf, the Trumper family,

Ondekaremba Lodge, Arebbusch Lodge and the Windhoek Golf Club.

Page 2 - June 2013 WILDLIFE AND AIRCRAFT RESEARCH NAMIBIA PROJECT (WARN)

Photo above: Kefilwe Mogotsi removing the gizzard of a Spotted Eagle-owl for diet analysis

Dirk Bockmühl made use of the

so-called SAGraSS method to

determine the productivity of

areas under different land uses

at Eros and Hosea Kutako. This

could tell us how many insect

eating birds may be attracted to

these areas, and why. He has

completed almost all of the

practical work, i.e. collecting

insects and sorting them into

their respective taxonomic or-

ders. Data analysis is underway,

but initial trends indicate that

mowing of grass does not really

influence the numbers of insects

found, although the types of

insects differ. However, at both

airports there were distinct

differences in numbers of

arthropods collected be-

tween the two months of

sampling, i.e. February and

April for Hosea Kutako,

and March and May for

Eros. We will now see

how this relates to the

numbers and types of birds

occurring within the different

areas, and therefore how these

areas should be managed to

minimise bird occurrences.

To determine the effect of apron

lights on the risk of collisions

with insectivorous birds an ex-

periment to determine the effect

of light as an attraction to in-

sects at airports is underway.

180 light trap stations with dif-

ferent coloured lights (yellow,

orange, white and no light)

were set up at Eros and Hosea

Kutako airports, The traps col-

lected insects over a 6 day pe-

riod in April. Data analysis is

underway to determine how

many, and what variety of in-

sects are attracted to the differ-

ent light sources. Preliminary

results indicate the following:

- White light attracted more,

and larger insects than yellow,

while orange light attracted the

fewest;

- All light attracted far more

insects at Hosea Kutako than at

Eros. This tentatively indicates

that phototaxis (light attractive-

ness) is more of an issue at Ho-

sea Kutako than Eros, and

hence at airports in rural loca-

tions as there is less light pollu-

tion. It further seems to indicate

that orange

or yellow

filters on

apron lights

will reduce

the effect,

and possi-

bly result in

a reduced

risk of bird

strikes at

Hosea Ku-

tako. The

study will be completed by the

end of the year, after the results

are rigorously tested, when rec-

ommendations regarding the

filtering of lights at the airports

may be made.

(Photo below: Christa D’Al-

ton collecting insects at a light

trap at Eros)