Smithsonian's Dove on Bird Strike

Smithsonian's Dove on Bird Strike: "

When I heard this report on NPR recently, it struck me that Carla Dove, a scientist and erstwhile snarge expert with the feather-identification lab at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, has the perfect name for her job.

After a bird strike occurs, the feathers and other organic materials -- known as 'snarge' -- are sent to the lab, where DNA testing and feather matching techniques are used to identify the bird species.'

Click here to listen to the report and read the story. (NPR, All Things Considered, Jan. 16, 2009)

Identifying the bird helps operators take action to remove the environmental factors that caused the bird and the aircraft to collide in the first place. Once the species is known, Dove explains that operators can take steps to remove the specific vegetation, habitats, etc. that attract the species to the airport, to lessen the risk of future bird strikes.'

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(Via MRO Blog.)