Birds, struck during flight by fast-moving modern aircraft or getting ingested in jet engines, cause numerous serious accidents of which some involve human deaths. Gulls of various species are the birds involved in a considerable proportion of these accidents due to bird-strikes.
Gull-strikes of aircraft in flight may be expected:
1. When there is a chronic attraction such as a concentrated worm or insect population, a high mouse population, or some other biological attractant;
2. When there is lack of care in disposal of food-wastes;
3. When drainage on an airfield or on flat-roofed buildings is not properly designed or is not functioning well; or
4. During the early autumn when large numbers of inexperienced, immature gulls are in flight.