Planes in Australia have recorded the highest ever number of birdstrikes in a year, with galahs, flying foxes, swans and pelicans among those coming off second best.
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There were 1921 birdstrikes in 2017, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Brisbane recorded more incidents than any other city, with 138 strikes, followed by Sydney (109), Melbourne (104), Cairns (100) and Darwin (90).
However, a significant number of birdstrikes happened at an unknown location (135) and in nearly a third of cases the species was also not known.
None of the incidents caused serious injuries or fatalities.
Domestic high capacity aircraft were most likely to be involved.
But the animal hazards are not just the flying kind. Hares, kangaroos, a cow and even a turtle were hit by aircraft in 2017.
Hares were the most common (eight) followed by kangaroos and rabbits an equal second with five each.
The ATSB this week released its Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics for the decade spanning 2008 to 2017.
Over the 10 years, 16,626 birdstrikes happened with only 19 of those considered wan accident and just five causing a serious incident.
WILDLIFE STRIKES 2008 TO 2017
* 781 birdstrikes involved one or more birds ingested into engine turbines
* 11 times birds were sucked into two engines
* Four remote-pilot aicrafts and two light helicopters destroyed by birdstrikes
* 396 ground-based animal strikes reported
Australian Associated Press
