Sonic net around airfields 'could save lives and billions of pounds'

Speakers and amplifiers were set up in three areas of an airfield with birds observed over an eight-week period, the first four weeks without noise and the remaining with sound turned on.

Professor Swaddle said: “We have conducted prior research in an aviary but this is the first study done out in the field to show the efficacy of the sonic net.

“We are using a different kind of deterrent - trying to stop birds from hearing one another by playing a noise that is at the same pitch as the alarm calls or predator noises they are listening out for.

"By playing a noise at the same pitch, we mask those sounds, making the area much riskier for the birds to occupy.

"The birds don't like it and leave the area around the airfields, where there is potential for tremendous damage and loss of life."

"These findings have implications for airport safety but also have potential applications for agriculture and for alternative energy sources such as solar farms, where birds living and feeding in the area can cause disruption, and around wind turbines where the birds are at risk of collision and the threat to birds can sometimes be a legislative barrier.”

The paper, A Sonic Net Excludes Birds From An Airfield: Implications For Reducing Bird Strike And Crop Losses, is published in the journal Ecological Applications.