Bird feeders endanger CAFB

  • Published
  • By Capt. Justin Cadwell
  • 14th Flying Training Wing
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE Base, Miss. --  As our Columbus Air Force Base aviators fulfill their mission on a daily basis, they constantly face the threat of wildlife strikes.

In 2014, several 14th Flying Training Wing aircraft struck 113 birds causing over $370,000 in damages. Not only do bird strikes cost a significant amount of money, it results in the aircraft being unable to fly for some time which also prevents the base from accomplishing the mission of Producing Pilots.

The 14th FTW Safety Office puts a significant amount of time and effort into reducing the amount of bird and wildlife on the base and near the runways. The Bird/Animal Strike Hazard program, aka BASH, focuses on reducing the attractiveness of the airfield and the surrounding environment to wildlife that threaten our pilots and aircraft. Some examples of these efforts include, maintaining the grass around the airfield at heights that do not attract birds, using noise makers positioned around the airfield to scare off the birds and conducting bird depredation activities to remove hazardous birds.

In addition to these measures, personnel living and working on base can contribute to the BASH program simply by removing food, water and shelter sources for the animals such as bird feeders, bird baths and more. The Columbus Air Force Base Plan 91-202 prohibits bird feeders anywhere on base to include within base housing.
While birds are very enjoyable to watch as they come to feed, they become habituated to the local area and attract predatory birds, such as hawks, that prey on food sources with large populations of smaller birds. Hawks are a major threat to aircraft due to their size and tendency to fly at altitudes where aircraft are most vulnerable. 

However, even small birds such as meadowlarks and swallows endanger our aircraft and pilots. In January an eastern meadowlark caused over $200,000 in damage when it was ingesting into a T-38 engine. Therefore, we ask that all Columbus AFB personnel join our BASH team by removing all bird feeders, bird houses and bird baths to reduce the attractiveness of the base environment to our winged friends and help ensure the safety of our aircraft and Airmen flying above and you below.