Planes operating at the Philippines’ main airport are facing a growing danger from waterbirds descending there after losing nearby swamps to development, according to authorities.
Airlines complained last month to the Manila International Airport Authority about the worsening problem of birds flying into planes, Alex Cariaga, head of the airport’s ground operations safety division.
He said the Airline Operators Council, a group representing all carriers that serve Manila airport, said there had been 23 incidents in which birds were sucked up into jet engines last year.
The so-called “bird strikes”, which could cause a plane to crash, was up from just nine in 2009, added Mr Cariaga.
However, there had been no major incident yet due to the bird strikes.
Mr Cariaga said the problem appeared to worsen after developers reclaimed some small lagoons near the airport runway last year to build warehouses.
“We thought it was a good thing because we expected the birds to move elsewhere,” he said.
However, the birds, mainly egrets, instead moved to the grassy areas beside the runway to hunt frogs, grasshoppers, lizards and other prey.
He said pilots frequently contacted the control tower for help whenever they saw birds wandering onto the runway.
He said the airport’s 15-member ground safety team has to then scramble to the runway with noisemaking equipment to scare off the birds.
The Philippines is a key pit-stop on the East Asian-Australasian flyway, in which enormous numbers of birds fly between the northern and southern hemispheres to escape cold weather.
Apart from the migratory birds, Mr Cariaga said the team also had to deal with domesticated pigeons that were raised by surrounding communities.
“These pigeons would descend in large flocks. We have asked the local governments to discourage residents from raising birds, but truth to tell, there is no ordinance right now that bans the practice,” he said.
Meanwhile, millions of fruit bats are flocking to a cave sanctuary on a small Philippine island and reproducing wildly as humans become an increasing threat to other nearby habitats, according to a conservationist.
Biologists have been surprised by the bats as they seem to be breeding all year round and not just in their regular April to July season, said Norma Monfort, who heads a conservation foundation that manages the sanctuary.
“The cave is overflowing. The bats are on the ground, they are out in the open, which is very unusual. The bats are delivering (babies) all year round,” Dr Monfort remarked.
An estimated two million bats are crowding inside the 300-metre long Monfort Bat Cave on the southern island of Samal, said Dr Monfort, whose family owns the property where the cave is located.
The overcrowding has become so bad that male bats are often seen attacking baby bats, she said.