Avian collision risks at airports: Integrating DNA barcoding, species traits, and phylogenetic analyses to inform mitigation strategies

Bird strikes pose significant risks to aviation safety and wildlife conservation, particularly in regions with high avian biodiversity. This study addresses the ecological and biological factors driving bird strike incidents by integrating DNA barcoding data, species traits, and environmental characteristics with taxonomic, ecological, and phylogenetic approaches. To identify the species traits that significantly influence collision frequency, we employed a multivariate phylogenetic comparative approach. The Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the largest and busiest civil airport in China, has become a major hotspot for bird strikes in eastern China. From 2014 to 2024, we analyzed 1,397 bird strike samples to identify 205 bird species across 16 orders and 44 families. Using coverage-based rarefaction and extrapolation, we achieved a high sampling completeness of 94.99%, revealing that Passeriformes and Charadriiformes were the most frequently involved orders. Phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) highlighted that body mass, geographic range size, hand-wing index, dispersal ratio, flocking tendency, and migration status were key predictors of collision frequency. The interactive effect of body mass and flocking tendency emerged as a stronger predictor of collision frequency. In multivariable PGLS models, the additive combination of flocking tendency, body mass, hand-wing index, and geographic range size best explained collision frequency. Specifically, collision frequency was positively associated with large-group flocking tendency, hand-wing index, and geographic range size, but negatively associated with body mass. Our findings emphasize the importance of species-specific management plans, habitat modification, and real-time monitoring to reduce bird strike risks. By providing a comprehensive framework for understanding bird-aircraft collisions, this study contributes to both aviation safety and biodiversity conservation efforts in regions with high avian diversity.