Why THE EDGE COMPANY puts observation before dispersal

Airport operators answer for what moves around them. The FAA and USDA published “Wildlife Hazard Management at Airports” (2005) as a manual for airport personnel. It calls a wildlife hazard assessment the first step in preparing an airport's wildlife hazard management plan.

For any wildlife problem, the manual starts with a set of questions to answer for each species. Devices come later, once those answers are in.

THE EDGE COMPANY works from the same rule: know what is on the field before anyone is sent out.

Our method began in flight safety, at a fighter wing of the Italian Air Force. Fabio Masci, who founded the company in 2017 and leads it, is a retired Italian Air Force lieutenant colonel and a fighter pilot. From 1998 he was chief of flight safety at the 5th Fighter Wing, in Cervia.

Why does a deterrent stop working?

The manual calls habituation to most repellent devices and techniques a major problem. Used repeatedly without reinforcement, a device teaches birds and mammals that it is harmless. It becomes part of the background noise, and the animals ignore it.

In one case that the manual cites, propane exploders did not repel the birds because they had habituated to the sound.

In general, birds quickly habituate to cannons that fire at set or random intervals throughout the day, according to the same manual. Its advice is to use cannons sparingly, and only when birds are in the area. Transport Canada's guide “Sharing the Skies” (TP 13549) adds that avoiding automated timers can extend the effectiveness of gas cannons.

The FAA and USDA manual says the same of distress calls as of propane cannons. Broadcast routinely from fixed speakers, with no follow-up that adds fear or stress, they are of little use. It also notes that each species often responds differently to the various repellent techniques.

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What does the team need to know before it goes out?

The manual's questions include exact identification, because different species often require different management techniques. Next, the manual asks why each species is on the airport, and how it moves by time of day and by season. The team also needs to know where on the airport each species poses the most critical threat.

Transport Canada asks for this knowledge before any habitat management work begins, whatever its scope. Its guide advises reviewing strike data to identify known problem species and to assess the seasonal presence of hazardous species.

Against habituation, the manual advises using each technique sparingly, when the target birds are present, and combining several techniques. Timing a technique to the presence of the target birds requires knowing what is on the field.

For the manual, the most important factor in deploying repellents is the people who use them. They need to be motivated, trained, and appropriately equipped, and to understand the wildlife situation on their airport.

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Our patrols already watch the field: Is that not enough?

Regular patrols are a critical component of an integrated program, the manual says. They disperse birds and let the team learn the daily movements, habitat preferences, and behavior of wildlife on the airport.

A patrol, though, sees the field only for as long as it is out. We work with pan-tilt-zoom daylight and thermal cameras, so the watch over the areas they cover continues after dark. The team still decides who goes out, and when.

We run site surveys, supervise installation, commission each system, and provide remote support. Each site starts on a pretrained model, which we then retrain on that site's own annotated footage.

Biologists in our data analysis team build species knowledge, validate samples of the detections, and review customer reports. The team is led by one of them, who has worked on BCMS® (Bird Control Monitoring System) since 2018. Every figure in our reports traces back to a stored event.

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Can a system decide on its own when to disperse?

The manual allows that systems deploying repellent devices automatically might help reduce habituation in some situations. It also says that such systems will never replace the need for trained people on the ground.

In BCMS®, connected deterrents fire under the operator's rules, and the decision stays with the operator.

Wildlife may adapt or habituate to strategies that once worked, the manual notes. It asks for the plan to be evaluated at least once a year.

To test your own dispersal procedures against this rule, write to our team through the contacts page.

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