Avian Diversity and Bird-Aircraft Strike Problems in Bahir Dar International Airport, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Abstract Background Bahir Dar International Airport is known by its rich avifaunal diversity, and bird-aircraft collisions is becoming a serious problem in the area. Study on bird-aircraft strike problems in Bahir Dar International Airport was carried out from February - August 2020. The study area was classified into four habitat types based on its vegetation structures namely: bushland, grassland, wetland, and modified habitat. Point and transect count methods were used to collect data on diversity and abundance of birds. Interviews to people working at the Airport were used to gather information about the incident and prevention of bird-airport strike problems. Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson’s similarity indices, ANOVA, and chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Results A total of 80 bird species belonging to 15 orders and 40 families were identified in the present study area. The highest species diversity (H’=3.59) and species evenness (E=0.96) were recorded in the modified habitat during the wet season. The majority of birds in the present study area were uncommon species both during the dry (85.5%) and wet (84.8%) seasons. Birds pose severe threats to aircrafts in Bahir Dar International Airport. Bird-aircraft strike problem has mainly been prevented by expelling of birds using different techniques, which is found to be encouraging from the perspective of conservation of birds. Conclusion Bahir Dar International Airport is rich in its avifauna that requires the Aviation Authority to work in collaborative with different organizations to avoid bird-aircraft strike problems without affecting conservation of birds in the area.