Researchers interested in learning more about aggression in sparrows needed an inside man.
Apparently Swamp sparrows, spread across the northeast wetlands are crazy aggressive during mating season.
They will fight other birds to death and even attack humans and hang gliders who get too close!
That’s crazy! They’re just tiny lil sparrows!
The researchers came up with a brilliant, but gross plan… stuff a dead sparrow full of robot parts and make a Frankensparrow!!
The Frankensparrow could do a “wing wave” threat display and a nearby speaker would sing a fight song at other birds.
The researchers put the robo-bird in breeding grounds in Pennsylvania and started wing waving.
They found that they could piss off the other birds pretty easily, especially if they combined a wing wave with a song.
They apparently learned a lot about the behavior of swamp sparrows from the study.
That is until a tough guy sparrow fought Frankensparrow and ripped his head off!!
We guess birds might be our biggest allies in the inevitable war against the machines. LOLz!
[Image via Alvesgaspar/Wikimedia Commons.]
