2 December 2024

How do birds avoid midair collisions? In 2016 scientists learned that budgerigars flying head on toward each other avoid crashes by always turning right.

Researchers in Australia trained 14 male budgies to fly in a narrow well lit tunnel, one at a time. After the birds were acclimated they positioned one bird at each end of the tunnel and let them fly straight at each other. Two set of cameras recorded the birds’ reactions.

Over the course of four days, seven budgie pairs made 102 flights with no mishaps. When the researchers reviewed the video, they saw that the birds avoided any aerial mishaps thanks to two evolutionary traits. About 85 percent of the time, the birds turned right upon approach. “This seems to be a simple, efficient and effective strategy for avoiding head-on collisions,” Srinivasan said. 

The budgies also seemed to decide whether to fly over or under an approaching bird, and the pairs rarely made the same choice. … The researchers speculate that either each budgie prefers one flying height over the other, or flock hierarchy determines who flies high and who flies low.

— Audubon Magazine: Birds Avoid Mid-Air Collisions By Following These Two Simple Rules

Here’s what the tests looked like.

We use the same principle in traffic. “Stay on the right.”

Well, actually, 70% of the world drives on the right, 30% on the left. Heaven help you when you drive in a country that does the opposite of what you’ve learned!

Fortunately budgies always use the same rule.