Welcome Aboard: Identification of US Navy/Marine Corps Birdstrikes at the Smithsonian Institution James Whatton, Carla Dove, Marcy Heacker, Faridah Dahlan Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Feather Identification Lab - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Welcome Aboard: Identification of US Navy/Marine Corps Birdstrikes at the Smithsonian Institution James Whatton, Carla Dove, Marcy Heacker, Faridah Dahlan Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Feather Identification Lab

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Leading Navy and Marine Corps bases participating in the partnership by sending in remains to the FIL. ... We have identified approximately XX species of birds ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Welcome Aboard: Identification of US Navy/Marine Corps Birdstrikes at the Smithsonian Institution James Whatton, Carla Dove, Marcy Heacker, Faridah Dahlan Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Feather Identification Lab


1
Welcome Aboard Identification of US Navy/Marine
Corps Birdstrikes at the Smithsonian
InstitutionJames Whatton, Carla Dove, Marcy
Heacker, Faridah DahlanSmithsonian Institution,
National Museum of Natural History, Feather
Identification Lab
INTRODUCTION Roxie Laybourne, founder of the
Feather Identification Lab (FIL) and Pioneer of
Forensic Ornithology, provided identifications
for the US Navy on a contractual basis until
2003. The current interagency agreement with Navy
Region Southeast operates on an annual basis and
allows for birdstrike identification services for
the entire US Navy and Marine Corps. The protocol
to have birdstrike remains identified calls for
an electronic WESS (Web Enabled Safety System)
report to be filed and the bird remains to be
sent to the Smithsonian. Once the wildlife
remains are identified, the information is sent
to the Navy Safety Center at Norfolk , VA where
the information is entered into WESS. Field
personnel who send the remains are also informed
of the identifications.
DISCUSSION Based on the current analysis, we
predict that FIL will receive more than 400
birdstrike cases from the Navy/Marine Corps in
the first year of the interagency agreement, an
impressive number that can be accredited to the
proactive participation of Navy personnel in the
field who are doing an outstanding job of
recognizing and collecting wildlife remains after
a strike. We also predict that reporting will
likely increase as more people are familiar with
the service. The US Navy is now developing it's
first BASH instruction for birdstrike issues and
plans to require the following 1) reporting all
wildlife strikes into WESS 2) collecting and
submitting all birdstrike remains for
identification by SI-FIL. Participation in
the new agreement between US Navy/SI-FIL is a
critical way to show the need for this type of
species identification service and provide
accurate data to field biologists who implement
BASH management plans. The FIL hopes the
partnership will to continue to grow and will
provide valuable information to Navy and Marine
Corps personnel.
Figure 2. Leading Navy and Marine Corps bases
participating in the partnership by sending in
remains to the FIL. The number of cases sent in
by each bases is on the y-axis.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW Since the agreement began in
October 2008, Navy personnel have sent in a total
of 343 cases with 355 samples (Fig. 1). A great
majority of the remains have been submitted as
textbook examples of collecting birdstrike
remains. Proper collection of remains is
important for the FIL to obtain the most specific
ID possible. Birdstrike remains came from 24
installations and were collected by a variety of
Navy, USDA Biologists, and Marine Corps
personnel. The top participating base are shown
in Figure 2. Identification methods used for
Navy/Marine cases included whole feathers (39),
DNA analysis (36), feather microstructure (14).
Eleven percent (11) of the cases involved using
multiple ID methods emphasizing the importance
of collecting a variety of material. Wildlife
species identified most frequently (Fig. 3) are
consistent with those involved in US Air Force
and civil birdstrikes. We have identified 132
species of wildlife (89 to species level).
There have been 10 damaging cases (Class A, B,
or C) in which the FIL received remains for
identification for this reporting period.
  • Importance of collecting and sending
  • wildlife remains to FIL
  • FIL has many tools to identify all types of
    remains including a large reference collection of
    specimens, microscopic slides and a DNA
    laboratory
  • FIL stores all cases for a minimum of 3 years and
    can review identifications
  • FIL has the ability to examine past birdstrike
    cases or implement new technology as it becomes
    available (i.e. stable isotope analysis for
    migratory status, DNA sexing for numbers of
    individuals.
  • Confirming field identifications provides more
    accurate information for the Navy/Marine Corps
    database

Figure 3. Most commonly struck wildlife to
Navy/Marine Corps aircraft. The identifications
include all remains identified to at least family.
For more information or questions contact the
authors at the Feather Lab - (202) 633-0801 or
via email whattonj_at_si.edu, dovec_at_si.edu,
heackerm_at_si.edu, dahlanno_at_si.edu
Although the United States Navy and the
Smithsonian Institutions Feather Identification
Lab (FIL) have had a long history of working
together to identify birdstrikes, it wasnt until
October 2008 that an official interagency
agreement between the US Navy Southeast Region
and FIL was initiated. Since that time, we have
received a variety of birdstrike remains ranging
from whole feathers to alcohol swipes of blood
smears collected and sent by Navy, USDA
Biologists, and Marine Corps personnel for
identification. Through the first eleven months
of the partnership, we have received over XX
cases from XX different Navy and Marine Corps
bases. We have identified approximately XX
species of birds (XX identified to species
level XX identified to a higher order of
classification). Based on the information
presented in this poster, the US Navy birdstrike
identification program is experiencing excellent
participation from the field and is a much needed
asset to the US Navy/Marine Corps BASH program.
Collecting remains Since the agreement began, the
Navy and Marine Corp have sent in a total of 343
cases with 355 samples (some cases include
multiple impact points). A great majority of
the remains have been submitted as textbook
examples of collecting birdstrike remains (Fig.
1). A proper job of collecting remains is
important and allows the FIL to obtain more
specific identifications. For the information in
this poster, birdstrike remains came from 24 US
Navy/Marine Corps bases and were collected by a
variety of Navy, USDA Biologists, and Marine
Corps personnel. The top participating bases can
be seen in Figure 2.
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