Antarctic Bird Develops Love for Runways, Endangers Planes

Airstrips from all over Antarctica seem to be currently dealing with a bit of an odd situation – many south polar skua birds, which, truth be told, are fairly large and aggressive, have taken a keen interest in runways across the freezing continent, attracted by their warmth and the fact that they are snow-free. However, their newly-developed passion blatantly contradicts the basic principles of air traffic safety, as illustrated by the recent crash-landing of a rather large plane in the Hudson river, on account of birds that weren't watching where they were going.

The birds are rather impervious to scaring techniques such as setting off a large bang from a rifle, and therein lies the problem – they do not want to move from the comfort of the runway, while people cannot have them there, jeopardizing incoming and outgoing flight, and they don't want to shoot them either. Anyway, shutting the birds would be against the law, as an international treaty, signed by some 47 nations, currently protects the entire southern continent as a natural reserve.

During the morning skua-banishment rituals, six-wheeled vehicles drive up and down on the runways, scaring off the intruders. Sirens cry out various types of disturbing sounds, while people occasionally shoot a bullet in the air to amplify the dramatic effect. "It seems to be working – about 15 minutes prior (to takeoff or landing) we've [sic] driving up and down with bells and whistles to get them out of the way," UK's Rothera flying safety officer Steve King told Reuters.

Thanks to the fact that preemptive measures have been employed in time, no incidents have thus far occurred at the strips, but officials say that they now have to always be on the look-out for the birds. Skuas are much larger than the birds that have hit the US jetliner recently, and can literally cause a large dent in any aircraft descending or ascending to and from the runway, if they happen to be sucked into the engine.