News | Sunday, 08 March 2009

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Falcons fail to scare off runway starlings

The culling of starlings at the Malta International Airport will be carried out because alternative measures to rid the runways of potential threats of bird strikes proved inadequate.
The Office of the Prime Minister said that MIA management tried a number of measures to control wildlife inside the airport, but had to resort to culling “as a last resort after a number of alternative methods have been employed.”
These included bio-acoustic systems that scared off starlings by dispersing them with noise, controlling grass levels which are usually favoured by starlings for feeding, and even the use of falcons to scare the birds from the airport’s perimeter.
“The results were generally unsatisfactory,” a spokesperson said.
“MIA conducts a number of daily inspections relating to wildlife activity; these inspections, which are all recorded, are mainly centred on the analysis of birds on the runways and aircraft movement areas. MIA has invested in the latest bio-acoustic products long established by Scarecrow Bio-Acoustic Systems Limited (UK). These products are intended for successful bird dispersal, and work in line with MIA’s overall and planned programme for bird control.”
The Prime Minister, as minister for the environment, has ordered a discretionary culling to take place until 8 March of the starlings inside the airport, due to air safety. The government amended the hunting laws that previously prohibited the shooting of birds inside and around the Malta International Airport and the Gozo Heliport.
The areas were included inside Malta’s list of protected sanctuaries for birds because EU rules lay down a minimum of 15% of total land area to be a bird sanctuary.
The amendment came just weeks after a bird strike hit US Airways Flight 1549 after leaving New York’s LaGuardia airport, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Hudson River.
A bird strike is a collision between a bird and aircraft, usually occurring when the bird hits either the windscreen or gets sucked into the engines. At times leading to fatal accidents, the bird strike that hit the US Airways flight led to a loss in engine power.
The spokesperson said MIA personnel were rigorously trained and that culling was an “effective supporting activity to the non-invasive measures such as bio-acoustic deterrents currently employed by MIA.”
“These methods are kept as a last resort and complement the use of shooting, through the use of blanks, as a scaring method to reinforce dispersal action to the furthest extent possible,” the spokesperson said.
The culling will be carried out by licensed and approved personnel under the supervision of MEPA inspectors. Records will also be kept of the exercise with MEPA.

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