Bird Strike Association of Canada

Bird Strike Association of Canada

We believe that the key to reduce damaging wildlife strikes to aircraft in Canada is by building a community of  professionals to exchange ideas, experiences and co-operative efforts to better manage wildlife at all Canadian airports.  It is through the ecological management of wildlife and the application of best practices that we will be successful in reducing strikes to aircraft. In pursuing these beliefs, we influence all aspects of airport wildlife management in Canada.

The Bird Strike Association of Canada (BSAC) is a leader in airport wildlife strike prevention. Through dialogue with the industry, the BSAC seeks and advances innovative ideas in aviation safety. Our mandate includes setting standards and addressing industry issues by formulating effective strategies and implementing change through regulatory means. Birdstrike  Canada is “The Canadian Voice of Wildlife Strike Prevention.”

The Bird Strike Association of Canada is recognized by Transport Canada as Canada’s National Bird Strike Committee organized under the guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Report All Wildlife Strikes

All airports in Canada are required to report strikes to Transport Canada. We urge airports to report strikes to Transport Canada as soon as possible in case additional information is required. Strikes can be reported by clicking on the picture below.

Bird Strike Canada encourages the use of a slightly modified version of the bird strike definition in CARS 302.303.

Confirmed Strike (must be reported as a “strike” to Transport Canada)

• Any reported wildlife strike where evidence in the form of a carcass, remains, blood or damage to the aircraft is found;
• When dead or injured wildlife are found within 60 m (200 ft) of a runway or taxiway unless another cause of death can be confirmed;
• when a pilot reports a strike and is convinced to have hit an animal.

Unconfirmed/Possible Strike (must be reported as a “strike” to Transport Canada)

• Any reported wildlife strike where no evidence is found (i.e., when a pilot “thinks” the plane struck an animal, or may have struck an animal, but no evidence is found).

Near Miss/Close Call (may be reported to Transport Canada as “near miss”)

• Any reported or observed occurrence where wildlife was in the airspace of an aircraft and posed a risk of collision, but no collision occurred.

Note that dead birds found along the approach/departure ends of the runway but more than 60 m from the runway ends are likely to be strikes that occurred at higher altitudes and should be considered as strikes unless other causes of death can be confirmed.

Wildlife Strike Photo Data Base

Send your strike photos to photo@canadianbirdstrike.ca

We now have a data base of over 1000 photos of wildlife struck by aircraft at Canadian airports. Photo evidence of the species struck and the location/evidence on the aircraft is some of the most important data recovered from a strike event. Yet Transport Canada’s strike form does not allow the upload of photos; therefore, those data are generally lost. The BSAC Wildlife Strike Photo Data Base is an initiative to capture and save the strike photos which can then be linked to the Transport Canada Data Base. The additional advantage of sending in photos is that BSAC experts will check your identification of the species struck and offer their best attempts at an ID if different from yours. We urge every airport to send us photos of your strikes. The protocol for photographing, labeling and sending your photographs can be found here. And don’t forget, if you do not have enough remains to identify (e.g., just a blood smear or what we call “snarge”), you can send them to BSAC’s partner DNA lab at the University of Guelph to get them identified (usually) to species. Check here for more information.

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