FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-62/4

Title and Subtitle: Sonotropic effects of commercial air transport sound on birds

Report Date: March 1962

Authors: Swearingen JJ, Mohler SR

Abstract: The Electra sound spectrum contains an audible chirp which appears identical in frequency and wave form to the chirp of field crickets. Field observations strongly indicate the sound of the taxiing Electra exerts an attraction for starlings, and possibly other birds, particularly in the fall in the Northeast, when insects suddenly become less plentiful. The implications of this attraction, "positive sonotropism," for air safety, are discussed. Recommended approaches to alleviating this type of bird hazard are presented.

Key Words: Sound Spectrum, Cricket, Bird Hazard, Sonotropism.

No. of Pages: 7