For airport teams across the world, managing bird and wildlife activity has always required vigilance, local knowledge and fast response. As air traffic grows however, ‘keeping an eye out’ is no longer enough for safety or business.
Globally, the estimated number of bird strikes ranges between 300,000 and 500,000 each year. The true number is difficult to pin down because reporting standards vary widely between countries, airports and aviation authorities.
What we do know is enough to make any airport operator pause.
The FAA Wildlife Strike Database recorded more than 18,000 strikes in 2023 alone, and bird strikes cost the U.S. civil aviation industry around $1 billion annually in costly aircraft damage, repairs and operational delays.
Bird and wildlife strikes can cause immediate and long-term flight delays, reduce aircraft availability, affect pilot and airline confidence, and create reputational damage that influences route planning, passenger numbers and commercial performance.
For airports that are working hard to attract airlines, tourism and business travel, wildlife risk is not a side issue – it’s part of the airport’s safety, operational and revenue strategy.
Almost 90% of bird strikes occur at or below 3,000 feet above ground level, typically during arrival or departure.
In other words, they happen when aircraft are closest to the airport environment and when response time is at its most compressed.
Bird strikes are not confined to one neat window of the day either. The FAA reports that over 60% occur in daylight hours, while around 30–35% happen at night or in low-light conditions. During migration periods, risk can appear both day and night, with many incidents occurring on approach.
That creates a challenge for wildlife teams, air traffic control and airport safety managers.
How do you act quickly when the risk is moving, changing and sometimes invisible to the human eye?
That is where the Avian Radar System from Accipiter comes in.
The Accipiter Avian Radar System gives airports a new way to monitor, understand and respond to bird and wildlife activity.
It’s designed to support real-time awareness, allowing airport teams to detect bird activity, identify risk zones and respond with greater confidence.
It does this by enabling airports to set up alert zones based on bird persistence, volume and movement. When high-risk activity is detected, wildlife management teams can be alerted to dispatch immediately. Air traffic control can be informed, vigilance can be increased, and incoming or departing aircraft can be made aware of elevated risk.
Instead of treating wildlife dispersal as a standalone action, teams can make better-informed decisions about when it is safe to harass birds or wildlife based on live aircraft location.
A deterrent action at the wrong moment can create as much complexity as the original risk. The right action, at the right time, with the right data, is where the value lies.
The system can also integrate acoustic deterrent devices, allowing airports to support targeted bird dispersal at the exact moment it’s needed.
Rather than blanket deterrence or manual intervention based purely on observation, airports can move towards more precise wildlife response. Birds and animals can be addressed in specific locations, at specific times, based on live risk.
Where cameras are integrated, teams can also view the response to acoustic harassment in real time, helping them understand what is working and refine their strategy further.
By observing and recording bird activity 24 hours a day, across day, night and seasonal periods, airports can begin to understand behaviour patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed.
That intelligence can inform practical decisions, from grass length and roost removal to attractant management, targeted deterrent schedules and, where necessary, operational planning.
The Accipiter Avian Radar System has been designed with easy deployment in mind, and with Roadgrip as the reseller for the African region, it also comes with support, consultative advice and installation from our local teams.
For airports managing large estates, remote locations, challenging infrastructure or fast-changing operational demands, the flexibility of this system becomes even more useful for bird and wildlife management teams.
Airports across Africa can now move beyond observation and into intelligent, data-led wildlife risk management.
Every airport environment is different, of course, and the real value in a system like this lies in understanding how the system could work for your specific site, risks and operational priorities.
To find out how Roadgrip Airports Africa and the Accipiter Avian Radar System could support your airport, get in touch with the our team for a walk-through of the system and confidential chat about your airfield.