Why does the airport have an ornithological service and how does it work in Domodedovo

The bird at the moment of collision with the fuselage of the aircraft or in case of contact with the engine not only can die, but also can disrupt the operation of important mechanisms of the air liner. Domodedovo Airport was the first in Russia, where in the 1980s they organized the work of their own ornithological service, the purpose of which was to control birds both on the territory of the airfield and within a radius of 15 kilometers outside it.

In addition, Domodedovo is the first Moscow airport to start using the so-called patrol birds to scare away all other birds.

Depending on how serious damage the birds can cause to the aircraft, they are divided according to the degree of danger. The highest risk category includes large birds, whose mass exceeds 0.5 kilograms: swans, storks, cranes, ducks, eagles and others.

The average danger is represented by birds weighing 150-500 grams: pigeons, gulls, rooks, partridges, etc.

Well, to the lowest level of danger include starlings, blackbirds and larks, which tend to form numerous flocks.

Predators, such as, for example, goshawks, are considered to be very effective ways of combating feathered “threats”.

In Domodedovo, the ornithological service uses 5 goshawk hawks.

These are specially trained hunting birds that help to effectively deal with accumulations of other winged creatures in the take-off and landing area of aircraft. Such predators "work" not only in Russia but throughout the world.

There are also man-made methods of fighting birds at airports: guns that mimic the sound of a gunshot, or the dynamics from which the sounds of predators are heard, but only the use of the “live” method causes evasion reactions in birds that arise at the level of deep instincts. That is why the use of birds of prey is so effective.