this may suggest some simple surface treatment to change the reflection of polarized light would greatly discourage birds from flocking to airports.
Smooth "objects look more like water than water" to birds as they come into the area!
So smooth runways and glass are -- for birds -- what the ethologists call a "supernormal stimulus" -- more attractive than the real thing.
You can imagine what this is like. Classic examples are, for a herring gull, a red dot on the beak; for a human male, consider a strapless evening gown.
(The classic engineering paper is here:
A Stress Analysis )
Now you know how the birds feel as they head toward the airport!
Excerpt from New Scientist -- Wildlife confused by polarised light pollution
12:40 08 January 2009
Bruce Robertson of Michigan State University (
KBS - Research Associates) says ... When light bounces off smooth, dark surfaces it becomes polarised – meaning the light wave is aligned in one plane.
In natural environments, this most commonly happens around water, but humans excel at making smooth surfaces. "Cars, asphalt, oil pools, and windows polarise light more strongly than water," says Robertson.
To animals tuned to distinguish polarised light and use it as an environmental cue, "these objects look more like water than water," he says. ...