Background Bahir Dar International Airport and its surrounding habitats are known for their rich avifaunal diversity, which results in bird-aircraft collisions as a fundamental problem in the area. A study on bird diversity and bird-aircraft strikes at Bahir Dar International Airport was conducted between February 2020 and August 2020. Based on its vegetation structures, the study area was classified into four habitat types namely; bushland, grassland, wetland, and modified habitats. Transect and point count methods were used to collect data on avian diversity and abundance. Questionnaire surveys, interviews, and document analysis were used to gather information about incidents and protection measures against bird-aircraft strike problems. Shannon–Wiener diversity index, Simpson’s similarity index, ANOVA, and chi-square test were used for data analysis. Results A total of 80 avian species belonging to 15 orders and 40 families were identified in the study area. The highest species diversity (H’ = 3.59) and species evenness (E = 0.96) were recorded in modified habitats during the wet season. Relative abundance categories of birds in the study area showed that most were uncommon birds. Birds pose severe threats to aircraft in the airport and 92.3% of the respondents replied that most bird-aircraft strikes occurred early in the morning and late in the afternoon when birds remain more active. The majority (88.5%) of questionnaire participants confirmed that bird-aircraft strike incidents frequently occurred during the time of takeoff and landing of the aircraft. It is also known that on average forty bird-aircraft collisions per year happen at the airport. Conclusion Bahir Dar International Airport is rich in its bird diversity that recalls the aviation authority to work in collaboration with different organizations to avoid bird-aircraft strike problems using different control measures without compromising the conservation of birds.

Background Bahir Dar International Airport is known by its rich avifaunal diversity, and bird-aircraft collisions is becoming a serious problem in the area. Study on bird-aircraft strike problems in Bahir Dar International Airport was carried out from February - August 2020. The study area was classified into four habitat types based on its vegetation structures namely: bushland, grassland, wetland, and modified habitat. Point and transect count methods were used to collect data on diversity and abundance of birds. Interviews to people working at the Airport were used to gather information about the incident and prevention of bird-airport strike problems. Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson’s similarity indices, ANOVA, and chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Results A total of 80 bird species belonging to 15 orders and 40 families were identified in the present study area. The highest species diversity (H’=3.59) and species evenness (E=0.96) were recorded in the modified habitat during the wet season. The majority of birds in the present study area were uncommon species both during the dry (85.5%) and wet (84.8%) seasons. Birds pose severe threats to aircrafts in Bahir Dar International Airport. Bird-aircraft strike problem has mainly been prevented by expelling of birds using different techniques, which is found to be encouraging from the perspective of conservation of birds. Conclusion Bahir Dar International Airport is rich in its avifauna that requires the Aviation Authority to work in collaborative with different organizations to avoid bird-aircraft strike problems without affecting conservation of birds in the area.