Achievements of the Bird Strike Association of Canada
Formed in 2009, we are a volunteer professional association guided by a Steering Committee. BSAC significant achievements include:
- Co-hosted the North American Bird Strike Conference with BSC-USA in 2010, 2013, and 2017 in the USA and in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2019 in Canada
- Held Canadian conference/Workshops in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018
- Initiated the Bruce Mackinnon Memorial award and have presented it to five recipients
- Maintain a comprehensive website featuring news, resources and background information
- Maintain an electronic library of over 2000 papers
- Produced newsletters to keep subscribers informed
- Initiated a Facebook page to encourage engagement by the industry
- Clarified for our membership the and implications of Health Canada changes to laser importation regulations
- Engaged the University of Guelph Centre for DNA Barcoding to identify animals struck by animals at Canadian airports when remains are not otherwise visually identifiable. Negotiated a reduced price for members of BSAC.
- Sent DNA sampling kits to 100 Canadian airports
- Assisting the initiation of the Canadian Avian Forensic Morphology Lab at the University of British Columbia
- Initiated a photo identification service at no cost to airports to assist in the identification of animals struck by aircraft in which whole remains are present
- Initiated a wildlife strike photo data base because the Transport Canada data base does not allow for inclusion of photos – one of the more important parts of the data from strikes. These photos are then linked to the Transport Canada data base by BSAC
- Developed a poster encouraging airports to report strikes and providing them with directions on how to do this appropriately. Posters are being distributed to Canadian airports.
- Developed a clearer definition of what constitutes a wildlife strike than is present in CARs.
- Reviewed Transport Canada’s annual strike report and provided detailed feedback on how the report can be improved.
- Presented a White Paper to the Minister of Transport that identifyied gaps in safety due to regulatory short-falls and provided suggestions for regulatory improvements.
- BSAC presents papers and maintains a booth at Canadian conferences such as SWIFT, AMCO, CAQ, etc.
- Produced a business card that can be handed out to pilots encouraging them to report strikes and with a handy QR code to access the TC strike form online.
- Continuously developing a closer working relationship with birdstrike committees around the world