Hazardous Species Identification, Attractants, and Mitigations at the Naval Air Station Kingsville, TX

Authors: Kathryn Smith-Hicks, Drew Finn, Matthew Kramm, Roel Lopez, Tiffany McFarland

We investigated the relationship between bird strikes and activity, weather patterns, and landscape features at the Naval Air Station Kingsville Main Station to identify factors leading to increased bird-aircraft strike risk within the area of concern (AOC) and provided recommendations for mitigating risk. The objective of this project was to identify attractants and present solutions to decrease strike hazards from large-bodied avian species (vultures and other raptors) that frequent the AOC airspace. To accomplish this goal, we (1) conducted avian point counts, (2) collected and analyzed weather data, (3) identified trends in bird strikes and activity using existing strike and avian-radar datasets, and (4) examined the relationship between bird activity and weather patterns. We conducted our research in coordination with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic and Naval Air Station Kingsville personnel including the USDA-WS Airport Biologist and the Natural Resources Program Manager under
Cooperative Agreement #N62470-20-2-2009.