Avian Dispersal With High Technology: Portable Lasers

Lasers have been successfully used for avian dispersal all over the world by organizations and individuals such airports, councils, pest controllers, farmers and home owners.

An interesting background statistic for birds and airports is that around 50,000 bird strikes on civil aviation aircraft are recorded worldwide every year, with 11 per cent affecting the flight and some of the incidents leading to fatal crashes. Green, collimated laser beams are used to regularly sweep runways and surrounds and successfully scare away birds. Green laser systems are already widely used at a large number of airports in the Middle East, Europe and USA.

Green lasers have been used successfully by farmers in the Australian outback who needed to drive off protected bird species such as cockatoos and Gallahs with out harming them. Lasers have also been successfully used by farmers in Canada, the US and New Zealand to deal with the exploding population of large "Giant Canada Geese". Apart from allowing farmers to adhere to local laws for wildlife protection, lasers also allow farmers to save millions in rifle ammunition.

A bird’s eye is very different from a human eye and can filter most of harmful radiation. Tests have been conducted on birds with high power lasers at a range of 1 meter and there was no visible damage to the bird’s eyes. Birds are scared of green laser beams which they view as a threat but are they are not harmed by high power lasers.

Over all portable lasers and laser systems are a very effective and elegant solution to the problem posed by birds. Their use does not break wide life laws, they are relatively cheap, environmentally friendly and do no harm to birds. Find more on Laser Diffraction Grating.