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JBSA News
NEWS | Sept. 7, 2016

502nd CES removing trees, shrubs to reduce bird strikes

Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Public Affairs

Contractors with the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron are removing trees and shrubs at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph to reduce the nesting areas of birds that pose a flying hazard to aircraft.

The project is focused on the removal of dead and invasive trees and shrubs, roosting areas for the white-winged dove, at Heritage Park – the site of the former Wherry housing area. The white-winged dove is the species of birds that causes the most damage and poses the most risk to aircraft operations at JBSA-Randolph.

Forrest Hughes, 502nd CES chief of service contracts, said the project to remove the dead trees and shrubbery started in August, which was the end of the nesting season for the birds. He said by removing the nesting sites of the birds, the 502nd CES is trying to mitigate bird strikes on aircraft at JBSA-Randolph.

Over the last two years, there have been 230 bird strikes to aircraft at JBSA-Randolph totaling $1.6 million in damages, said Maj. William Rose, 12th Flying Training Wing Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard program manager. BASH is a program that utilizes several approaches to wildlife hazard management, from wildlife habitat modification to wildlife depredation, to reduce the risks of bird strikes to aircraft.

Rose said the removal of the trees and shrubs follows a project last year that focused on tree trimming in the JBSA-Randolph housing area. He said the purpose of both projects is to eliminate, minimize and reduce the nesting and roosting locations of the white-winged doves.

“We are trying to reduce the risks of bird strikes by making the airfield less attractive for wildlife, and that helps decrease the chances of bird strikes,” Rose said.

A bird strike can result in engine damage to an aircraft during takeoff, Rose said.

Rose said other wildlife habitat modifications in the BASH program include cutting the grass along the runways to seven to 14 inches and making sure storm water and wastewater at JBSA-Randolph are not attractive to birds.

Other methods include wildlife dispersal in which pyrotechnics and noise makers are used to scare away and prevent birds from crossing the runways. Paintball guns are also used to move birds from their nests.

The aircraft with the most bird strikes is the T-38C Talon, which accounts for 40.63 percent of all strikes, followed by the T-6A Texan II, 32.8 percent and the T-1A Jayhawk, 21.9 percent.

Rose said a T-38C Talons can sustain more damage than other aircraft because they fly lower longer before climbing up and are a high performance aircraft that can hit a bird at a higher rate of speed.

To avoid the flight path of white-winged doves, which fly from their roosting to their feeding sites south of JBSA-Randolph during the early morning hours, the flight operations of the T-38C and the T-1A are moved from the east runway to the west runway to reduce the risk of bird strikes.