Many airports around the world are located by the sea, where seagulls and other sea birds are regular inhabitants. In these habitats, birds are forced to retreat when airplanes approach, rendering untenable the coexistence between animal and machine. Both avian and aeronautic creatures may travel within an open, clear, and apparently limitless space, unconstrained by the same severe limitations land movement is bound to. Nevertheless, there needs to be a (unilateral) demarcation of the skies. The technical name given to the possible chaos generated by an encounter between an airplane and, for instance, a flock of migrating ducks, is “birdstrike.” In said “strikes,” a group of birds flying at 100 km/h may crash against a plane flying at 900 km/h. If, as a result of such crash, a bird as large as a seagull, pelican, or duck happens to accidentally become stuck inside a turbine, the plane can break down and fall, crashing into land or sea. [...]
Birdstrike
in ENCYCLOPEDIA