6 ms·
I have a similar story. I was taxiing a Cessna 152 at LHBS. It is a big grassy field. On that day there were a large flock of black birds sitting on the grass.
by krisoft 1y ago
I have a similar story. I was taxiing a Cessna 152 at LHBS. It is a big grassy field. On that day there were a large flock of black birds sitting on the grass. I made the usual radio call to announce that I'm leaving the runway and taxiing to the tie-downs when the birds flitted away just between my airplane's nose and my destination. The birds outside of that "road" by roughly a wingspan distance remained on the ground and kept doing whatever they were doing. And the ones who took to the air settled back a short distance away from my future path.
Now just to clarify I don't think the birds were listening on my radio call. The way I explained it to myself is that they were observing airplanes coming and going long enough that they learned that if an airplane hesitates at that point the next thing they will do is to turn towards the tie-down area. Or maybe it was just randomness. Or maybe as I was making the radio call I already started turning and they just got scarred away by my engine noise.
- Neywiny 1y agoI'm not an ornithologist but I think birds integrate some onboard magnetic compass sensors. So, it would be interesting if they can pick up the magnetic part of an electromagnetic wave of the radio. Seems very low likelihood but would be cool. Edit to add https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230828130356.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230828130356.h... . What frequency were you at? Seems they may actually be listening.
- IAmBroom 1y ago"Picking up" and "discerning useful data" are very different. I'm not even talking about "deciphering". Even knowing that energy in a certain bandwidth means planes about to leave seems a large jump - and a radio tuned to a station is likely an order of magnitude more stringent than an animal's sensory abilities.
- kqr 1y agoIndeed. Not to mention that the frequency is probably used for many other types of communication than announcing the use of that specific taxiway.
- PunchyHamster 1y agoI'd imagine the fact they are high frequency rather than constant field would make it impossible
- krisoft 1y agoProbably 124.510 Mhz. That is the current airport frequency there and it is unlikely to have changed since. Very cool article. But it sounds like that would be out of the likely range?
- Neywiny 1y agoThat's close enough to the cutoff that I could see it being in range maybe for the right species or even a slight mutation/evolution. Even if all they know is "I know North but a little less definitively than usual", that could be enough.
- throwanem 1y agoI see pigeons and sparrows dodge cars by inches, too. For that matter I do the same myself! Sparrows hawk insects out of the air, and I believe starlings also. Predicting motion would need to be second nature, I think. Like skillfully catching a ball, but much more so and between your teeth...
- vikingerik 1y agoWell, there is survivor bias there, of course; you don't see the ones that didn't learn to dodge...
- im3w1l 1y agoBut it makes you wonder why they cut it that close. What benefit they get from it. I can think of several plausible reasons but none that is self-evidently true.
- fullstop 1y agoPerhaps for the same reason that people skydive or engage in other risky behavior.
- throwanem 1y agoWhy waste energy giving someone else a free shot at whatever you're finding it worth your time to stand in the street over? It isn't that someone else wants that dropped french fry or whatever. It's that everyone else does.
- quinnirill 1y agoThis is quite common prey animal behavior. Larger predators have a harder time adapting to rapid turns made just as the jaws/claws are about to snap shut.
- harrall 1y agoNot a bird but as a human, it’s fun. Adrenaline is hell of a drug… and the best one.
- MarceliusK 1y agoBirds are surprisingly good at recognizing patterns
- ashoeafoot 1y agoThey can see em fields, might aswell have "seen" the radio.