Should passengers taking off from — or landing at — your local airport worry about bird strikes? You can find information leading to a few answers in the Federal Aviation Administration's FAA Wildlife Strike Database. It is online and searchable. [2]

Most wildlife strikes involve birds, and only a fraction result in serious damage, but a few result in engine failure and a plane crash — such as the US Airways flight that ditched in the Hudson River January 15, 2009 (piloted by Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger). The database is searchable by place and date — or species. You can download the entire data file for your own projects.