Bird Watch

Although the total number of bird strikes¹ reported in Australia increased between 2012 and 2013 (Figure 1), the bird strike rate in recent years has decreased slightly (Table 1), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.

Reported bird strikes numbered 1,769 in 2013, up from 1,644 in 2012, the ATSB said in its report, Australian Aviation Wildlife Strike Statistics, 2004–2013, released in December 2014. Over the 10-year period from 2004 through 2013, the agency received reports of 14,571 bird strikes, most of them involving high-capacity air transport aircraft. The number of strikes reported annually increased over the 10-year period from 1,085 in 2004 to 1,769 in 2013.