Dead birds get new life: New Mexico researchers develop taxidermy bird drones

APRIL 13, 2023
PUBLISHED AT 9:55 PM

SOCORRO - Scientists in New Mexico are giving dead birds a new life with an unconventional approach to wildlife research.

A team at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro is taking birds that have been preserved through taxidermy and converting them into drones in order to study flight.

Mostafa Hassanalian, a mechanical engineering professor who is leading the project, had found that artificial, mechanical birds had not given the results he was looking for.

"We came up with this idea that we can use, dead birds and make them (into) a drone," he said. "Everything is there, we do reverse engineering."

Taxidermy bird drones - currently being tested in a purpose-built cage at the university - can be used to understand better the formation and flight patterns of flocks. That in turn can be applied to the aviation industry, said Hassanalian.

More:
https://www.asiaone.com/world/dead-birds-get-new-life-new-mexico-researchers-develop-taxidermy-bird-drones