Flight‐tunnel experiments with red‐billed queleas to determine the distribution of a solution sprayed onto birds in flight

摘要

AbstractIn an attempt to simulate conditions when Quelea birds are sprayed with avicide at night while they are in flight, captive birds were sprayed with red dye as they flew down a dark tunnel. The distribution of dye on the birds' plumage showed that the spray makes contact with the front of the head, the upper breast, and the flight feathers of the wing; very little reaches any other part of the body. Large droplets (180 to 250 μm) were much more effective than small droplets (30 to 75 μm) at hitting the flying bird, presumably because the latter were carried over the body surfaces by the airstrea