PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland International Airport bird and wildlife hazard managers cut the number of bird strikes with aircraft in half last year.
The number of bird strikes fell to 53 in 2009, and wildlife officers have also worked to keep other animals, including coyotes, from causing damage at the airport.
The Port of Portland spends about $500,000 annually on wildlife control efforts across 1,700 acres.
Officials try to avoid killing any of the animals considered pests, and instead haze them and scare them off. Tools include pyrotechnics, a network of 20 noise cannons and even a small handheld laser that shoots a beam of green light as far as a mile to scare birds.
"The birds think it's a light saber," said biologist Nick Atwell, who leads the team of four airport wildlife managers. "They do not like the laser."
From sunrise to sunset, at least one of the airport wildlife officers patrol the area, usually in a bright yellow pickup equipped with radios, maps and animal control tools.
One of the tools used to manage red tail hawks is a trap called a Swedish Goshawk trap designed so that it automatically closes after birds fly in. The birds are then banded and released away from the runway.
The banding helps Atwell track which birds return and how quickly they come back.
Animals on the ground also pose a problem. The grass between runways needed for stormwater drainage is mottled with trails made by voles, small rodents that eat bugs and worms and serve as dinner for larger predators.
Coyotes burrow under the airport fence in search of food and sometimes wander onto the runway, creating a collision hazard for jets that can reach 250 miles an hour during takeoff.
But birds are the biggest potential threat. At the Portland airport, great blue herons glide majestically along the ground searching for supper. Red tail hawks build their nests on airport radio antennas and stay for years at a stretch. Seagulls and starlings sweep through in flocks so large and dense they can resemble low-lying clouds.
On a recent patrol, he had to use a starter pistol loaded with a pyrotechnic shell called a "banger" to chase away a flock of seagulls from a runway.
"They'll be back," he said. "But I guess we can consider that acceptable behavior for the moment."
