Red and blue LED lights may cut bird-plane collisions

A new study shows that red and blue LED lights lead some birds in the opposite direction. Using lights to try to create “avoidance behavior” in birds isn’t new, but literature to support what kinds of light might work was nearly nonexistent. In collaboration with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, researchers are starting to uncover some answers. “The way we figure this out is to give the animal a choice,” says Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, a professor of biological sciences at Purdue University who led the study at the Ross Biological Reserve.