GEESE AND FLIGHT SAFETY IN DENMARK

Transcription

1 GEESE AND FLIGHT SAFETY IN DENMARK Thoma s Kjæ r Christensen Preben Clausen Anthony D. Fox Bioscie nce Aa rhus Unive rsity, De nm a rk Mogens Ha nsen CPH Photo: Torben Andersen

2 DENMARK ON THE GOOSE MAP 2

3 FLYW AY PO PULATIO N SIZE 3.3 MILL. Species Flyway population Denmark Population Trend Breeding Wintering Gre yla g Goose 610, % c. 10, ,000 Bean Goose 585, % 12,000 Pink-footed Goose 80, % 46,000 White -fronte d Goose 1,200, % 13,000 Canada Goose 90, % 22,000 Barnacle Goose 770, % 2-3,000? 109,000 3

4 CHANGES IN PHENOLOGY Pink-footed Goose Madsen et al. In p re p. 4

5 BARNACLE GOOSE Figure 1. Spring migration route for three barnacle goose populations from their wintering to their breeding sites. 80,000 38,000 1,000,000 Shariatinajafabadi M, Wang T, Skidmore AK, Toxopeus AG, et al. (2014) Migratory Herbivorous Waterfowl Track Satellite-Derived Green Wave Index. PLoS ONE 9(9): e doi: /journal.pone

6 BREEDING BARNACLE GOOSE POPULATIONS (Inc o m p le te map) spontane occurrence or unknown orig in known introduction of birds

7 THE BARNACLE GOOSE IN DENMARK Breeding p op ula tion Sa ltholm: 1992: 1 pair 2014: 2,000-3,000 pairs? Othe r site s in DK Fe w sporadic a tte mpts Occur a ll ye a r round Moulting, mig ra ting, sta g ing and winte ring Not huntable in the EU Photo: Te ro Nie m i 7

8 INCREASING PRO BLEMS Urban populations Ad a pt to human a ctivitie s Wild p op ula tions Bold or aggressive Pre d a tor re sista nt Damage to a g riculture Photo: Kenneth Bengtsson & Naturshow.dk 8

9 BARNACLE GEESE AROUND CPH First record 1992: 1 p a ir 2014: 3,000 pairs Sa ltholm CPH Breeding se a son: 5,000-7,000 Vestamager Non-breeding se a son: 5,000-10,000 permanently sta g ing

10 GROWING CONCERN IN CPH Loca lly breeding birds Postbreeding dispe rsa l Chance of urb a nisa tion Sta g ing birds Lo c a l movements Mig ra ting birds spring and autumn 10

11 BIRD STRIKES WITH GEESE Number of bird strikes Geese (N=11) Ducks (N=23) Year 11

12 NEW INITIATIVES 1. Monitoring movements of loca l breeding birds 10 birds ma rke d with GPS-tra nsmitte rs (CPH Goose ta gs) 2. Dra fting a manual for wise management within a irport sa fe ty zone s (13 km) to a void or re duce a ttra ction of geese 3. Evaluate e ffe cts of continuously we tla nd re stora tion on the risk of b ird strike s 12

13 GOOSE CAPTURE - MAY

14 AARHUS UNIVERSITET GOOSE CAPTURE - MAY

15 GPS/ GSM transmitter Position, a ltitude and speed (once/ min.) Powe re d by sola r ce ll Data download every day via GSM-ne twork Lo n g e vity? 15

16 AARHUS UNIVERSITET MISSION COMPLETED 16

17 LOCATION OF MARKED INDIVIDUALS Bird No Tra nsmitte r

18 LO C AL MOVEMENTS Update 2 August 2014 (#362) 18

19 LO C AL MOVEMENTS - SEPTEMBER Update 9 August 2014 (#359) 19

20 MIGRATION Te st loca tion 5 Octobe r Update 9 Octobe r 2014 (#361)

21 CRITICAL MOVEMENT Update 9 August 2014 (#359) 21

22 FLIGHT ALTITUDE Pre limina ry re sults N= 636 true flig hts Altitude (meter) #361 m ig ra ting Number of true flights Avg. 45 m; Ka hle rt et al

23 STATUS Goose p op ula tions a re e xp lod ing Geese pose a n incre a sing risk to flig ht sa fe ty a t a irports Lo c a l breeding Barnacle Geese a t Sa ltholm a re a pote ntia l but not a n imme d ia te thre a t a t CPH Increasing numbe rs of mig ra ting geese a re of concern Future shifts in food a va ila b ility and behavioural changes/ a da pta tions may change geese d istrb utions 23

24 WHAT TO DO Monitor goose p op ula tions Ove ra ll p op ula tions size s and phenology Development of loca l breeding colonie s Pop ula tion migra tory phenology Loca l a nd re g iona l movements Continuously a sse ss a irport b ird strike sta tistics Number of strike s Numbers of sca ring events Number of ind ivid ua ls regulated on a irports Asse ss be st and develop new methods to deter geese Pote ntia lly re duce geese a ttra ction to a irport sa fe ty zone s Which fa rmla nd crops and practices a re le a st a ttra ctive for fora ging geese Effe cts of SPAs on b ird numbers and sta g ing periods How to manage we tla nd s (numbers, p hysica l characteristics and occurrence of re cre a tive a ctivitie s) 24

25 THANK YOU FOR LISTENING CPH Copenhagen Airports The Forest and Nature Agency The Danish Transport Authority 25