COVID-19 AND BIRDS
An examination of Canadian aircraft-movement and reported bird-strike data indicates that the total number of bird strikes declined during the COVID-19 period, while the number of strikes relative to aircraft activity increased. Between August 1, 2016, and February 29, 2020, approximately 20,159,460 aircraft movements and 3,378 bird strikes were recorded. This represents about 1.68 reported bird strikes per 10,000 aircraft movements. Between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, aircraft activity declined to approximately 3,558,839 movements, while 952 bird strikes were recorded. Although the absolute number of strikes was lower, the COVID-period rate increased to approximately 2.68 strikes per 10,000 movements. The exposure-adjusted bird-strike rate was therefore about 60 percent higher during COVID-19 than during the pre-COVID period. These results demonstrate why absolute numbers should not be considered independently from operational exposure. The reduction from 3,378 strikes befor...