Vulture Flight Behavior and Implications for Aircraft Safety

Growing vulture populations represent increasing hazards to civil and military aircraft. To assess vulture flight behavior and activity patterns at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina, we equipped 11 black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and 11 turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 2011-09, Vol.75 (7), p.1581-1587
Main Authors: Avery, Michael L, Humphrey, John S, Daughtery, Trey S, Fischer, Justin W, Milleson, Michael P, Tillman, Eric A, Bruce, William E, Walter, W. David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity patterns
Aerial locomotion
Altitude
Animal behavior
Aviation
aviation hazard
Aviation safety
bird-aircraft strike
Birds
black vulture
Cathartes aura
Coragyps atratus
Flight altitude
Flight behavior
Foraging behavior
Global positioning systems
Military aviation
satellite telemetry
Space flight
Telemetry
Transmitters
turkey vulture
Turkeys
Wildlife management
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Growing vulture populations represent increasing hazards to civil and military aircraft. To assess vulture flight behavior and activity patterns at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina, we equipped 11 black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and 11 turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) with solar-powered Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite transmitters during a 2-year study (1 Oct 2006–30 Sep 2008). Turkey vultures had larger seasonal home ranges than did black vultures, and 2 turkey vultures made round-trips to Florida. Black vultures consistently spent less time in flight (8.4%) than did turkey vultures (18.9%), and black vultures flew at higher altitudes than did turkey vultures in all seasons except summer when altitudinal distributions (above ground level) did not differ. Although we recorded maximum altitudes of 1,578 m for black vultures and 1,378 for turkey vultures, most flights were low altitude. A matrix of vulture flight altitude versus time of day revealed that >60% of vulture flight activity occurred from 4 hr to 9 hr after sunrise at altitudes below 200 m. Continuation of aggressive harassment coupled with flexible training schedules to avoid times and altitudes of high vulture activity will decrease hazards to aircraft posed by these birds.
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.1002/jwmg.205