Jonathan Leddon's office is his silver Chevrolet Silverado crew-cab pickup truck in which he carries the tools of his trade-binoculars, truck horn, hawk traps and an assortment of firearms-for his thrice-daily, 2-hr. low-speed cruises around the perimeter of Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Thurgood Marshall Airport. Compared to the high-tech aircraft commercial jets landing and departing while he works, Leddon's modus operandi is strikingly low-tech-visually spot birds and other wildlife and coax them away from runways and flightpaths. While his tools might seem archaic, such efforts by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) wildlife biologists stationed at 140 U.S. civilian and military airports have cut the number of damaging bird strikes down on the airport property, according to the latest USDA and FAA statistics (see page 34). Along with actively dispersing problematic wildlife, biologists ensure the airport follows its FAA-approved wildlife management plan, which in large part involves habitat modifications to discourage animals coming onto the property.
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