“Bird strikes destroy planes, kill people and birds, and cause an estimated $700 million in damage each year in the US alone.”

Early studies suggest that using what we know about avian sight – birds see a wider color space and have a higher sensitivity to ultraviolet light than we do – may help them avoid collisions.

“Researchers have found that blue LED lights (with a wavelength of 470 nm) are the most conspicuous to brown-headed cowbirds, which often collide with aircraft.” Preliminary proposals for changes at airports are included in the study.

Read more by Ian Randall on ScienceShot here.

Young milkweed ready to be planted.

“Within half an hour, fifty gardening volunteers — kneeling on the ground, digging away and swatting flies — had planted 500 milkweed plants.”

“The milkweeds planted [last] Saturday in a meadow at the New Jersey Botanical Garden [in Ringwood] were meant to host monarch butterflies that migrate thousands of miles each year.  They lay eggs only on milkweeds, meaning that, as a sign at the event said, No milkweed, No monarchs.”

The plants were purchased through a collaborative funding grant from the National Audubon Society and Bergen County Audubon Society.

Read more by Minjae Park on northjersey.com here