A Falcon Robot in Rio

The Airport in Rio in Brazil has "recruited" a falcon robot in order to ward off birds of ill omen :-) More seriously, this robotic falcon is used to scare the birds which fly above the airport so that they don't collide with planes taking off. Usually, airports use real falcons, not robots. It is probably a world first. This step has been taken because collisions rose dangerously between 2008 and 2009 at Rio's international airport. (659 in 2008 and 926 in 2009.) The falcon robot is European technology (Spain/Italy) The bird is remote-controlled by airport staff and flies at 50 km/hour; it can reach 300 meters high and even skim the ground. It's an experiment for now which, if it proves successful, will be extended to other airports in Brazil. Above is a photo of falcon robots used at Liverpool airport; in this case they act as decoys and don't fly. via afp/msn