September
26, 2018, Purdue University
Millions
of birds die each year in collisions with planes, and airports have used
everything from fireworks to herding dogs to scare them away. Some methods have
been relatively successful, but they're useless after the plane takes off.
Researchers at Purdue University may have just found a solution.
Red and
blue LED lights lead some birds in the opposite
direction, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal PeerJ.
Lights
have been used to try to create "avoidance behavior"
in birds before, but literature to support what kinds of light might
work was nearly nonexistent. In collaboration with the USDA Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, the Purdue researchers are starting to uncover some
answers.red
"The
way we figure this out is to give the animal a choice," said Esteban
Fernandez-Juricic, a professor of biological sciences at Purdue who led the
study at the Ross Biological Reserve.
Here's
how it works: Researchers release a bird (in this case, a brown-headed cowbird)
and it flies away from them. A few inches away, the flight path is divided—one
side has a light on and the other doesn't. A single-choice test, in which the
bird chooses between a light on and off rather than between two colors, is
ideal for measuring avoidance behavior, said Fernandez-Juricic. If the bird
goes to the side without a light, that light might be a good candidate for
warning birds of danger.
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