Data from: Quantification of avian hazards to military aircraft and implications for wildlife management

Collisions between birds and military aircraft are common and can have
catastrophic effects. Knowledge of relative wildlife hazards to aircraft
(the likelihood of aircraft damage when a species is struck) is needed
before estimating wildlife strike risk (combined frequency and severity
component) at military airfields. Despite annual reviews of wildlife
strike trends with civil aviation since the 1990s, little is known about
wildlife strike trends for military aircraft. We hypothesized that species
relative hazard scores would correlate positively with aircraft type and
avian body mass. Only strike records identified to species that occurred
within the U.S. (n = 36,979) and involved United States Navy or United
States Air Force aircraft were used to calculate relative hazard scores.
The most hazardous species to military aircraft was the snow goose (Anser
caerulescens), followed by the common loon (Gavia immer), and a tie
between Canada goose (Branta canadensis) and black vulture (Coragyps
atratus). We found an association between avian body mass and relative
hazard score (r2 = 0.76) for all military airframes. In general, relative
hazard scores per species were higher for military than civil airframes.
An important consideration is that hazard scores can vary depending on
aircraft type. We found that avian body mass affected the probability of
damage differentially per airframe. In the development of an airfield
wildlife management plan, and absent estimates of species strike risk,
airport wildlife biologists should prioritize management of species with
high relative hazard scores.