The term "bird strike" gained instant currency in the U.S. when, on January 15, 2009, U.S. Air pilot Chesley Sullenberger brought his Charlotte-bound Airbus A320 to an emergency landing on New York's Hudson River. His aircraft had lost power to both engines following collision with a flock of Canada geese after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia airport. 

Thanks to the rapid response by boat operators on the river, no lives were lost, and the veteran pilot emerged a national hero. 

As its skies are filled with flocks of waterfowl and migratory birds, Japan is by no means exempt from similar hazards. According to Weekly Playboy (Nov 17), some 1,000 bird strike incidents are reported each year. What measures, if any, are the country's airports taking to deal with this hazard?  

In the past, various methods including air rifles and introduction of natural enemies such as hawks had been adopted. 

"But those were only temporary fixes," Masachika Tsuji, a professor at the Okayama Institute of Science and Technology, tells the magazine. Tsuji is encouraged by the emergence of a new device named Bird Sonic, which emits sounds that birds dislike, effectively repelling them from wetlands close to airports and other difficult-to-access areas. 

Bird Sonic underwent development from 2019 through collaborative efforts between academic researchers and TM Works, a manufacturer based in Yamanashi Prefecture. 

Tsuji tells the magazine the device was spun off from an earlier product called Deer Sonic that emitted high-frequency sounds aimed at keeping deer away from roads. 

Does the new system work? The writer pointed to the recent example of Hagi-Iwami airport in Shimane Prefecture where, from the third day of its introduction, the number of crows in its vicinity gradually declined. 

A key factor that enabled this success was that a survey team first determined the time frame and direction the birds habitually flew. 

"The next things we'll be looking at will be airports on Japan's remote islands, where the presence of large numbers of waterfowl invite these kinds of accidents," said Tsuji. 

Still, it's difficult to repel 100% of the birds in a given area, so airports are advised to supplement Bird Sonic with other methods. 

Of course, the new technology need not be confined solely to airports. In theory, any place that is troubled by birds may be a candidate for the new noise generator. Bird Sonic units have been installed on farms and in residential areas where damage from birds has been a problem. These include muscat grape vineyards in Nagano Prefecture and in Kakogawa City in Hyogo, which must deal with noisy starlings, whose huge flocks literally darken the sky. 

Bird Sonic's producer asserts his product poses no negative effects on domestic animals or pets. 

Meanwhile, we may soon be hearing more about a small migratory bird called the Baikal teal, which breeds in Eastern Russia and winters in East Asia. Last December 29, a bird strike prior to landing at South Korea's Jeju airport was determined to have caused a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 accident that resulted in the deaths of 179 passengers and crew. 

Due to environmental factors, Baikal teal numbers have been rapidly increasing in Japan. 

Hironobu Tajiri, an executive of the Wild Bird Society of Japan, pointed out that the bird is rated as vulnerable to extinction -- but not endangered -- so their increase should be seen as desirable. 

"On the other hand, when only one species increases rapidly, or if the increase occurs due to the effects of global warming, then there's a possibility of it impacting on other creatures, so you can't help but have mixed feelings," Tajiri said. 

Baikal teals only weigh around 400 grams, so aircraft collisions with single birds may not cause serious damage; but since they tend to fly in large flocks, and at the same time may be difficult for pilots to spot, they are believed to constitute a future potential risk.

"Birds don't just fly off, but fly for a purpose," Tajiri explains. "Through understanding their behavior patterns, it is efficient to direct aircraft so as not to conflict with their movements." 

Tajiri tells the magazine there have even been cases where his society requested an airport's construction be halted out of consideration for wild birds. 

"Bird strikes tend to be seasonal, with incidents most common in spring and autumn," he adds. "In particular, in autumn many young birds are hatched. Their instinct to flee hazards may not yet have fully developed, so more caution is warranted. For instance, the birds that collide with window glass tend to be young ones."  

The key to reducing risks of bird strikes, the article concludes, lies in combining new technology with better understanding of bird habitats and behavior.