Bird strikes are a common issue in aviation, with over 11,000 incidents reported in the U.S. in 2013 across commercial, military, and general aviation.
The high frequency of strikes occurs because birds, despite their agility, only react to perceived threats within about 100 feet, a distance too short to avoid collisions at typical aircraft speeds.
This delayed reaction is an evolutionary quirk; birds may see an aircraft from a distance but won't take evasive action until it's often too late.
Pilots can mitigate the risk by avoiding flying directly under birds, as they tend to dive when threatened, and by taking evasive action if birds are spotted in time.
I read a startling statistic recently. In 2013, there were more than 11,000 reported bird strike incidents among commercial, military and general aviation airplanes in the United States.
That’s a lot of birds hitting a lot of aircraft. And now researchers think they know why bird strikes are so common in aviation.
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