Stuffed dead birds made into drones could spy on animals or humans

Flapping-wing drones camouflaged with the bodies of taxidermy birds could help study flocks of wild birds or enable military spy missions, but they’re not yet the most efficient flyers

By Jeremy Hsu

A project for incorporating dead birds into flapping-wing drones might enable new ways of stealthily snooping on wildlife – and possibly spying on people for military purposes.

“Instead of using artificial materials for building drones, we can use the dead birds and re-engineer them as a drone,” says Mostafa Hassanalian at New Mexico Tech.

Hassanalian and his colleagues have combined taxidermy bird parts with artificial flapping drone mechanisms to mimic the general appearance and motions of living birds more closely. They have done flight tests with two look-a-like bird drones – one combining artificial bird body parts with a real pheasant …