Patterns of bird nocturnal migration at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, Northeast China

Abstract

The high frequency of bird strikes at night during the migration season is a remarkable characteristic of bird strikes at airports. Understanding the nocturnal migration patterns of birds is important for improving the methods to prevent bird strikes at night. In this study, we combined the methods of mist-net capture and sound recording to examine the composition of bird species and the patterns of nocturnal migration at Taoxian Airport. We found that 56 species of birds (88.9% of the total) migrated at night and mainly migrated after midnight. There were obvious temporal dynamics and sequence in migration. The time of spring migration was more concentrated and the migration peaked in mid-May, with Coturnix japonica, Lanius cristatus, Emberiza fucata, Saxicola torquatus, Caprimulgus indicus and Phylloscopus inornatus as the dominant species. The migration pattern was more dispersed in autumn and the peak of migration was in late September to early October, and the main species were C. japonica, Turdus hortulorum, Anthus cervinus, Scolopax rusticola, Locustella lanceolata and Emberiza spodocephala. Based on the Bird Hazard Risk Assessment, there were mainly two species with high risk (C. japonica and L. cristatus) in spring migration and four species with high risk (C. japonica, Athene noctua, T. hortulorum and S. rusticola) in autumn migration. We proposed several strategies for the prevention of bird strike based on the composition of migratory birds, migration dynamics, migration rhythm and species risk level, which could serve as references for bird strike prevention at Taoxian Airport.