PDX Wildlife Hazard Management is Year-Long Effort Each season brings new visitors to Portland International Airport. Just as spring break revelers are different than business or Thanksgiving travelers, different times of the year mean different kinds of animals for PDX wildlife biologists to manage. During the spring and fall migration, the four-person PDX Wildlife Hazard Management team is busy with red tailed hawks, many of which are relocated to areas outside of the city. Summer brings great blue herons and critters that birds like to eat, like grasshoppers. And winter is all about managing waterfowl like Canada geese, various types of gulls, and starlings. The PDX team relies on non-lethal methods for managing native species. The low-light days of December and January are the best time to use a laser, which emits a green light used to scare away birds hanging around taxiways and runways. Human visitors to the airport may also notice some loud sounds coming from the airfield: pyrotechnics emit a firecracker-like "pop!", while remote-controlled, solar-powered sound canons use compressed propane gas, to haze birds away from aircraft. Various tools in the toolbox help the team respond to different birds to keep all our visitors safe while flying in and out of PDX. Contact: Learn More:
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