BIRDS AND ME 2

Although birds are a fascinating group and a joy to watch, there are many who consider at least
some of them as pests, and creating problem to advancement of technology. Birds becoming
problematic to aircrafts is one such area of concern. Dr. Salim Ali and Dr. Robert Grubb were
involved in investigations of birds causing damages to airplanes. In fact Aeronautics Research and
Development Board (ARDB) first asked Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)
commonly known as Pusa Institute to submit a report on bird hits to aircrafts. Later it was
decided that BNHS would be more appropriate to undertake an in depth study of birds causing
damages to aircrafts and prepare a report. They did a thorough job over a period of time
covering large number of airports and airfields. Someone higher up in the aviation section found
a report that a strobe lights fitted on the aircrafts were effective in scaring the birds away from
the flight path. So BNHS was asked to verify this by testing the effectiveness of strobe light as
bird scaring device. Robert Grubb who was by then leading the BNHS team informed ARDB
that it involves physiological investigation and only M. S. University of Baroda can undertake
such studies. In 1987 (ARDB), Ministry of Defence granted us the Project Bird Hazard to Aviation
Phase I and gave a mandate to test effectiveness of strobe light in scaring the birds away from flight
path and runways. It was the beginning of another wild goose chase. The strobe light handed over to us
was the one that is usually fitted on an aircraft. I had to approach the Physics Dept. to help us to operate
it. It worked on DC current and needs specific voltage. All our attempts to get it to work failed and we
decided to approach Air India Engineers in Mumbai. There they studied it and explained that it needs DC
supply but with a Variac placed in the circuit. Initially the strobe light needs high current but as it comes
on, the wattage has to be reduced gradually. A Baroda firm was able to prepare a Variac with manual
control and it worked. We were to test the strobe light on birds such as vulture, kites and pigeons (which
are the ones that are usually involved in bird hits). How do you get live vultures and kites for the
experiments? Fortunately a vulture and a kite got injured and we brought them to our department. We
nursed them back to health. Vulture had to be fed with meat but kites will have only live chicken. We
had to design special cages to accommodate them. The plan was to put electrode to measure heart beats,
occulogram, and behavioural reaction to strobe light. The birds readily cooperated with various
experiments as they would get their food after that. The vulture would even spread its wing inviting us to
place the electrode and leads on the body. We had several such birds and after the experiments we would
release them. All of them refused to leave and wait for the food on the varandha or trees nearby. Strobe
light did not elicit any response in the birds. They were happy watching the strobe light but we had to
place ourselves behind special blinds while the experiments were on. Finally we submitted our report that
strobe light had no effect on big birds such as vulture and kites and other methods to reduce bird menace
be enquired into.