Runway-loving birds are risk to planes in Antarctica

The world's most southerly bird has become a threat to planes in Antarctica after developing a love for sitting on warm, snow-free airstrips.

Air traffic experts are seeking ways to scare off the south polar skuas, a large and aggressive brown seabird, but without harming them. The birds are protected by the 47-nation Antarctic Treaty, which declares the frozen continent a nature reserve.

At the British Rothera research station on the Antarctic Peninsula, about 100 skuas often sit on the 900-metre gravel runway. The odd penguin or seals can also be hazards.

As part of the skua scaring ritual, large bangs are set off and then a runway worker drives a six-wheeled vehicle up and down the runway, swerving toward any remaining birds. Sirens wail to alert both skuas and people.

"It seems to be working - about 15 minutes prior (to takeoff or landing) we've driving up and down with bells and whistles to get them out of the way," Steve King, said a pilot and flying safety officer at Rothera.

At Davis, an Australian Antarctic base, staff take a different tack by feeding the birds to try to lure them away from the airstrip.

Skuas are a hazard because bird strikes can down aircraft. The US jetliner that made an emergency landing on the Hudson River on Thursday - in which all 155 abroad survived - had apparently struck a flock of birds.

No birds have been hit this season at Rothera but there were minor strikes last year. The skuas are apparently attracted by the dark gravel surface - warmer than sitting on snow.