Bird Ecological Study And Birdstrike Risk Assessment In Xilinhot Civil Aviation Airport

During August 2007 and July 2008, composition, ecological distribution, community structure and the rhythm of bird activity were studied with the methods of line transect and sample point at 7 avian community in Xilinhot civil aviation airport and its surrounding areas .The results showed that:1. During the survey, 86 species of birds were recorded, belonging to 33 families 16 orders, in which there are 23 resident species,accounting for 26.74% of the total species we recorded, 46 summer migrant species,accounting for 53.49%, 15 traveling species, accounting for 17.44% and 2 winter migrant species, accounting for 2.33%.The main part of avifauna is Palaearctic Realm, and it also reflects the transitional characteristics that permeated mutually between the Mongo-Xinjiang region and the Northeast China region.2. Avian community paramenters in each season are as follows, the birds diversity index:spring>summer>autumn>winter, the birds evenness index:spring >summer>autumn>winter, the birds dominance index:winter>autumn >summer >spring, the birds average density: spring>summer>autumn>winter.From all year round,the Shannon-wiener index and evenness index in woodland habitat were higher than in other six habitats.3. The curves of species appear fastigiums in spring and summer in airfield area, and they mostly take place in May and October. And the largest number of bird is found in summer, especially in August. The Fastigium of bird activity varies with the change of seasons. In spring,it appears at 8:00-10:00 and 16:00-18:00;in summer,it appears at 6:00-8:00,8:00-10:00 and 18:00-20:00; in autumn, it appears at 8:00-10:00 and 16:00-18:00;in winter,it appears at 8:00-10:00 and 12:00-14:00. The result provides flight arrangements for the airport to avoid birdstrike with the theoretical basis.4. According to the investigation results, we identify a simple and useful method to evaluate the risk of birds based on some useful mathematic methods. The results showed: there are 10 species of highest risk, 19 of high risk, 22 average risk, and 35 of lowest risk. They respectively account for 11.63%, 22.09%, 25.58%, 40.70% of the birds we observed in the research region. The first two kinds are those species needing meliorating at first. The result can be used as a quantitative basis in evaluation birds and resolving the bird strikes at airports.