Danger flocks get the bird

A bird dispersal system using GPS technology has been designed to more accurately track local bird activity around airports and on aircraft flightpaths.

The device, called Ultima, disperses flocks by mimicking distress calls of individual species, and builds a database of the results for downloading to the airport analysis system for future reference.

Developed by

of East Sussex, the system can be installed in any airport vehicle and consists of a computer, a GPS satellite navigation unit, a pair of loudspeakers and a touchscreen control interface for the operator.

The display information includes pictures of local bird varieties, controls to select the appropriate distress call and the ability to log the dispersal result by touching a screen menu. The entire record of activity can be transferred on a USB data stick to a PC for storage and analysis.

'The system is very graphically orientated, and there are images to aid identification of the birds,' said Tom Diamond, Ultima's developer. 'The order that the birds are displayed in propagates itself on its own database.' So when a user logs a successful bird dispersal, the system makes a note of its location, species call and pitch.