Target acquiredFALCONRY is less fashionable now than it was in days of yore. But, over the past few years, sharp-eyed ramblers in south Wales may have witnessed an updated version of this ancient pastime. Since 2012, in a project sponsored by the United States Air Force, Caroline Brighton and Graham Taylor of Oxford University have been flying peregrine falcons (see picture) and Harris’s hawks over the Black Mountains of Monmouthshire to study how these birds chase their prey. Ms Brighton hopes to gain a doctorate from the research. The USAF hopes the birds may be able to teach it a trick or two about intercepting targets, both in the air (the speciality of peregrines) and on the ground (the speciality of Harris’s hawks).
To carry out their research, Ms Brighton and Dr Taylor turned to the technology of wildlife documentaries. They attached miniature cameras and satellite trackers to harnesses worn by their birds. Then they put the birds through a series of tests. These included attacking a dead pheasant on the ground, chasing a dead chick that was dragged along the ground and through a series of tunnels by a winch and...Continue reading
Source: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1MX7vwB
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