As passengers board aircraft bound for Caribbean beaches and far off places, Ryan Walker steadies his gaze on the immediate horizon. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, IAH, sits on a sprawling 10,000 acres of concrete and grassland. On this day, calm and clear, blue skies juxtapose the hum and roar of jetliners moving in and out of north Houston. It’s almost impossible to spot hawks, coyotes and rodents also crisscrossing IAH. But with the help of binoculars, Walker’s sight is sharp as he scans the pasture that surrounds Houston’s biggest commercial airport. He’s looking for wildlife and ways to keep them away from the aircraft operating area.  

Wildlife strikes, or collisions between aircraft and wildlife, can be dangerous. While staff at IAH report encountering skunks, snakes, deer and coyotes, birds are involved in most wildlife strikes. In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration confirms 97% of all wildlife strikes involve birds.  

Vultures, red-tailed hawks, starlings, swallows, mourning doves, killdeer and coyotes pose the largest potential threat to commercial aviation at IAH. 

Because of the risk, every single U.S. airport that accepts federal funding for operations must stay current with wildlife training and techniques that reduce the potential for wildlife strikes.  

“Because I am new to this airport, I have to re-train as if it were my very first time,” says Walker who transitioned to the airside operations team at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2022 after more than a year-and-a-half at William P. Hobby Airport. “There’s a phrase in our industry,” says Walker, “if you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.”  

Each airport, even in the same city, is separate with different wildlife management plans required by the FAA.  

“The biggest difference between Hobby and IAH is the size,” said Walker as he soaks in his new area of responsibility, which is about the size of 10,000 football fields. David “Hoss” Robertson, Airside Training Manager for IAH, is helping Walker learn the lay of the land.  

“We have to realize that the critters were here first, and the critters will always be here,” says Robertson. “The very first wildlife strike happened two years after the Wright brothers took their very first flight,” said Robertson of the first recorded bird strike in 1905.  

“We want the wildlife to return to their nest or den at the end of the day,” says Robertson. “We want our passengers to be able to get to their destinations safe and sound as well.”  

Houston Airports uses several techniques to keep wildlife at bay, which is why Robertson says air travelers need not worry about wildlife strikes at IAH.   

“We work to make the airport seem less hospitable to wildlife,” says Robertson of IAH, which welcomed its first passengers in 1969. “This area used to be part dairy farm, part swamp land. We have our very own ecosystem.”  

Among its 10,000 acres are 58 miles of ditches and 43 miles of runway and taxiways. A thick tree line and expansive pasture provide cover for small rodents, like rats and mice, which attract raccoons and possums, which attract coyotes and, “an occasional bobcat or fox,” according to Robertson.  

With training from biologists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Walker learns why it’s important to keep grass cut low. Doing so reduces the opportunity for animals to use the grass as shelter or cover.  

Ponding in drainage ditches can attract thirsty animals, and even the smallest break in chain-link fencing can be big enough for some wildlife to squeeze through. Airport staff routinely walk along the fence line to make sure it’s secure.  

“We found out, that some of the trees that were planted in 1969 were very attractive to birds,” says Robertson as he explained that Houston Airports now considers the impact of grass, trees and shrubs on attracting wildlife.  

Terminal garages can be inviting to wildlife, too. 

“We had a situation a few years back where birds were migrating across Intercontinental Airport from FM-1960 and they were roosting on top of our terminal garages in large mass,” says Robertson. “Sitting on the terminal garages themselves is not an issue, but it’s flying over the flight path and the runways that can cause issues.”  

Houston Airports works with the FAA to make sure antennas and other communication towers have anti-perching devices.  

Houston Airports began scaring off wildlife about six years ago. It’s the next humane step to relocate animals after modifying their habitat.  

USDA biologists train airport staff to launch pyrotechnics from firearms. Federal regulations require every new hire employee must be trained initially, and then every 12 calendar months. Walker just received training on exclusionary devices, non-lethal deterrents and trapping and relocation.  

Larger birds, like Hawks, are trapped, tagged and tracked by biologists before they are relocated away from IAH. “The hawk will never have a bad day and pilots will never have a bad day,” says Robertson of why it’s important to relocate animals.   

Feral cats and dogs, on the other hand, seem to find their way into people’s hearts and homes. 

Robertson says an FAA inspector from Dallas adopted a cat after it was discovered in one of IAH’s aircraft hangars. Other cats and dogs found living at IAH are taken to the City of Houston’s animal shelter, BARC.  

“With this training, my hope is I can help IAH continue to keep wildlife from harm or causing any real danger or damage to the passengers and aircraft flying in and out of this airport,” says Walker as he wraps his first patrol of the property. One patrol down, plenty more to go.