A map of the bird situation around Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, has been completed.

The map is the first of its kind in China, showing the detailed ecological situation of birds around the airport, according to a report of the Beijing-based China Surveying and Mapping News.

Shuangliu International Airport is an aviation transport hub in southwest China. As the ecological environment of the airport has improved in recent years, many insects and birds have been attracted to the area.

Sichuan Airport Authority Ltd. entrusted the Survey and Design Institute of Architecture of Southwest China to conduct a survey on the bird distribution within a radius of 10 kilometers around the airport.

The map shows the kinds of the birds and their length, weight, route of migration, flying height, habits and rank of danger to the airplanes. A database for the birds has also been set up to help protect the airplanes from the interference of flying birds.

Many ornithologists have taken part in drawing the map. And the survey shows that there are more than 60 kinds of birds living around the airport, according to the newspaper.

Statistics show that approximate 10,000 accidents of birds hitting planes are reported around the world every year. Bird strikes have become one of the most hazardous threats to aviation.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2006)