Mitigation translocation of red‐tailed hawks to reduce raptor–aircraft collisions

Abstract

Translocation of problematic individual animals is commonly used to reduce human-wildlife conflicts, especially to reduce the presence or abundance of raptors within airport environments, where they pose a risk to safe aircraft operations. Although this method has strong public support, there have been no scientific evaluations of its efficacy or to determine which factors might influence the return of translocated birds to the airport. We conducted a study to determine which biological and logistical factors might influence the return of red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) translocated from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) during 2010-2013. We live-captured and translocated red-tailed hawks various distances from the ORD airfield and monitored for returning birds. We found the odds of hawk return increased by 2.36 (95% CI ¼ 0.99-5.70) times for older birds (>1 yr of age) relative to younger birds ( 1 yr of age). Odds of hawk return went up 4.10 (95% CI ¼ 0.75-22.2) times when translocations were conducted during the breeding season relative to the non-breeding season. The odds of hawk return increased 11.94 (95% CI ¼ 3.29-43.38) times for each subsequent translocation event involving the same hawk. The cost of 1 translocation event to the release sites that were 81, 121, 181, and 204 km from ORD was $213, $284, $362, and $426, respectively. Management programs that use release sites 80 km from the airport minimize translocation events to include only younger birds during the non-breeding season, and undertake only 1 translocation event for an individual hawk would increase program efficacy and greatly reduce program implementation costs. The decision matrix regarding the use of a raptor trapping and translocation program involves a variety of biological, logistical, economic, and sociopolitical variables. This study represents an important first step in providing a scientific foundation for informing such management decisions. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Sunshine, Beaches, and Birds: Managing Raptor-Aircraft Collisions at Airports in Southern California

“…For both species, the lowest resight/recovery rate was for HY hawks; SY resight/recovery birds were intermediate, and the more mature birds (e.g., ASY, TY, and ATY) exhibited the highest resight/recovery rates (Table 4, Table 5). This finding is consistent with a study involving translocation of red-tailed hawks in Illinois (Pullins et al 2018). Raptors exhibit high site fidelity during breeding and migration periods (Rosenfield andBielefeldt 1993, Preston andBeane 2009), a factor that could result in older birds being more likely to return to an airport than younger hawks.…”

“…Several biological (e.g., age/sex of individuals) and logistical factors (e.g., season, distance translocated from airport) likely influenced the return rate and days to return for raptors (Pullins et al 2018). We strongly suggest that researchers and wildlife managers evaluate these factors in regionally specific areas to increase our understanding of raptor management.…”

“…We were unable to conduct rigorous analyses of our data related to some biological and logistical factors because the raptor translocations were not conducted in a standardized, consistent manner (for example, raptors of the same species were taken to and released at a wide variety of locations at varying distances and directions from the airports). We strongly suggest that researchers and wildlife managers conduct well-designed research studies and evaluate these factors in regionally specific areas to increase our understanding of raptor management (e.g., Pullins et al 2018).…”

“…Similarly, the days to return estimates for some raptors might be somewhat longer due to the same issues. We suggest that future research efforts should be conducted to evaluate the use of other auxiliary markers (e.g., patagial wing tags), which could allow for higher detectability rates of raptors that return to airport environments (e.g., Pullins et al 2018).…”

The Bird Strike Challenge

“…The category capture and relocation includes trapping of birds on the airfield and reassigning them to new habitats further away from the airport. Among others, a minimum distance between the airport and translocation area should be kept to limit returns to the airport [69]. The lethal category covers shooting of birds and pursues two goals.…”