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
DENMARK ON THE GOOSE MAP 2
FLYW AY PO PULATIO N SIZE 3.3 MILL. Species Flyway population Denmark Population Trend Breeding Wintering Gre yla g Goose 610,000 +9.1% c. 10,000 125,000 Bean Goose 585,000 +4.4% 12,000 Pink-footed Goose 80,000 +4.4% 46,000 White -fronte d Goose 1,200,000 +2.9% 13,000 Canada Goose 90,000 +10.3% 22,000 Barnacle Goose 770,000 +7.8% 2-3,000? 109,000 3
CHANGES IN PHENOLOGY Pink-footed Goose Madsen et al. In p re p. 4
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): e108331. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108331 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0108331
BREEDING BARNACLE GOOSE POPULATIONS (Inc o m p le te map) spontane occurrence or unknown orig in known introduction of birds 1989 1971 1987
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
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
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
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
BIRD STRIKES WITH GEESE Number of bird strikes 4 3 2 1 Geese (N=11) Ducks (N=23) 0 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 Year 11
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
GOOSE CAPTURE - MAY 2014 13
AARHUS UNIVERSITET GOOSE CAPTURE - MAY 2014 14
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
AARHUS UNIVERSITET MISSION COMPLETED 16
LOCATION OF MARKED INDIVIDUALS Bird No Tra nsmitte r 1 354 2 355 3 356 4 357 5 358 6 359 7 360 8 361 9 362 10 363 17
LO C AL MOVEMENTS Update 2 August 2014 (#362) 18
LO C AL MOVEMENTS - SEPTEMBER Update 9 August 2014 (#359) 19
MIGRATION Te st loca tion 5 Octobe r Update 9 Octobe r 2014 (#361)
CRITICAL MOVEMENT Update 9 August 2014 (#359) 21
FLIGHT ALTITUDE Pre limina ry re sults N= 636 true flig hts Altitude (meter) 491-500 471-480 450-460 431-440 411-420 391-400 371-380 351-360 331-340 311-320 291-300 271-280 251-260 231-240 211-220 191-200 171-180 151-160 131-140 111-120 91-100 71-80 51-60 31-40 11-20 0 #361 m ig ra ting 0 50 100 150 200 Number of true flights Avg. 45 m; Ka hle rt et al. 2012 22
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
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
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING CPH Copenhagen Airports The Forest and Nature Agency The Danish Transport Authority 25