Decoding Bird Calls to Avoid Plane Strikes

Software deciphers the calls birds use to communicate on their migration routes

27 October 2010

Chart showing the various birds and what the waveform of their call looks like.

Birds and planes have been colliding since the Wright brothers first took to the air.

There are dozens of bird strikes each day, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to airplanes each year, and putting the lives of passengers and crew members at risk. Researchers at Cornell Lab of Ornithology are now working on a way to help prevent collisions, by deciphering the calls birds use to communicate on their migration routes.

Rosetta Stone for birds

There's more to the language of birds than songs. They also use short calls - less than a second long. And each species speaks its own language.

Ken Rosenberg has been an avid bird-watcher since he was a boy. Today he works at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, unraveling avian mysteries. He says that birds use these short calls most often during migration.

"What we suspect is that these are calls that the birds are actually using to communicate back and forth, to locate each other," he says. "'Don't crash into me!' Of course, we're guessing, but given the way they call, it's really just a social thing."

Birds use short calls - less than a second long. And each species speaks its own language.