Birds and aircraft—fighting for airspace in ever more crowded skies

This special issue of Human–Wildlife Conflicts (HWC) was conceived 1 year ago by Bird Strike Committee–USA (BSC–USA) and the Berryman Institute. Our premise was that the collision of aircraft with birds (bird strikes) and other wildlife is a growing problem about which the general public and most scientists and wildlife biologist know very little. Furthermore, although considerable work has been done to mitigate the risks caused by bird strikes, there have been few peer-reviewed publications of these research and management efforts. Thus, our 2 goals were to (1) educate the broad readership of HWC about the growing safety and economic problems caused by bird strikes, and (2) provide an outlet for peer-reviewed research and commentary on methods to mitigate these risks. Most of the papers published in this edition are based on technical presentations delivered at the joint meeting of BSC–USA and BSC–Canada hosted by Orlando-Sanford International Airport, Florida, in August 2008 ()