What's the golden rule for night flight agl altitude? 1000? 1500? How many of you use a searchlight fixed forward or crosstube lights at night?

That's basically what our safety department just sent out to all of us. It's apparently in line with the latest safety research. Money well spent. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

There's no foolproof to avoid bird strikes, period.   Day or night.   Staying vigilant in the cockpit does!

Slow down .

does what?

Not worth a response 

them all with ads-b transponders

so they pop up on Tcas

plus all the time with lights on.  Never hit one but a friend did - big deal too.

one came through the upper windscreen and grazed my helmet, the others came in the cabin thru the cargo door.   Reall mess.   Diverted to nearest land airport.   Nobody hurt.   Aircraft had broken upper windscreen, but nothing else.   Marks on acft show a few other impacts.   Had bird parts as souviniers. 

All the lights were on, search light, flood lights, strobes, and anti-collison.....

On NVG's and saw nothing coming!

I hit a goose once IFR in the clouds... IMC....  EC145. Knocked the chin bubble out. 

5500 and 6500 MSL.  If the ceilings don't accommodate for you to fly at these altitudes and maintain your cloud clearances then decline the flight.

Safety first.

your pilot to explain why that's not always possible.

Am I ok then?

I was IFR out in the GOM, 100'ish miles offshore at 6,000ft in a SK-92. Flew out of a cloud and right before we were back in the clouds, saw a flock of birds.  Daytime, normal lights for offshore were on.  Did a little quick manuevering to avoid them. 

We're in their environment.  Keep your scan going is all you can do.

Cruising along one night with goggles, minimal ground lighting, 1500' or so, and at first thought I was seeing a shadow or something, as time went on the shadow became a flock of geese or some big migratory bird.  Passed off the left side.  Even with goggles, those birds are hard to spot in time.

Pre NVG, you just didn't see the birds......got NVGs and suddenly, many birds!

to see the bats at night just before impact!

1. Are Canadian or Snow Geese known to be migrating at your requisite altitude? Don't fly. 

2. Read the DoT/FAA 1990-2022 Wildlife Strike report. 

3. Fly between 2,500 & 3,500' OUTSIDE of known migratory bird pattern. 

4. NVGs do not turn night into day. They're limited to 40° FOV and are dependent on operator knowledge, skill, technique & tenacit. They're not a replacement for daytime 20/20 vision. They are an aide. And we are not flying in combat. 

5. Don't fly below geese. You'll be surprised in a bad way. 

6. if you fly above geese, make sure you have basic cloud clearance above you and a SAFE clearance beteeen you and the geese BELOW you. 

7. After you consider the above, and if you buy off on the logic, you'll probably determine that fewer night flights are safely possible when you have ceilings below 3500', or you will press on and depend on luck or God's grace to separate you from geese.  

The choice is yours.  

I flew into a flock of snowgeese in the middle of the night a 2500 feet AGL.  Two entered the cockpit.

That get obliterated by 1 or 2 birds.

Nothing mentioned in this thread so far has any effect in avoiding bird strikes, other than avoiding known areas where the birds congregate, for instance open landfills. Or, if you're offshore shrimp boats and others harvesting sea food.

However, this video mentions one technique that at least doesn't seem to attract birds- your landing lights attract them. 

Absolutely positive that guy is the carb heat-ON in a turbine moron.

''Em all and fly high.  A goose impact at 165mph is not a joke.