Stormwater impoundments within Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) citing criteria (10,000 ft from the air operations area) increase the risk of bird-aircraft collisions (strikes) by providing bird habitat. The number of wildlife strikes (97.5% involving birds) reported in the U.S. annually is increasing and, consequently, annual losses to the U.S. civil aviation industry from strikes now exceed $625 million. Wildlife managers must find ways to reduce this risk, while still managing stormwater for environmental quality compliance and safe aircraft ground movements. Existing guidelines for wildlife-hazard management at airports do not quantify the role of pond and landscape characteristics in attracting birds to stormwater impoundments. In a collaborative effort with the FAA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u27s Wildlife Services program, we are quantifying bird use of 40 stormwater detention ponds near Auburn, AL, over a two-year period. We will use the observer data and analyses via geographic information systems to develop bird-habitat models and, subsequently, improved BMPs to reduce bird use of stormwater impoundments in and around airports. We will present our development of this project and its objectives, as well as the project\u27s preliminary data and analyses to date
