SAEDNEWS: Iranian-Led Team Builds Real Drone Using Parts from Dead Birds
According to SaedNews, citing Gadget News, a research team led by an Iranian scientist has successfully created a functional drone using the bodies of deceased birds. This drone could have remarkable applications in military and espionage operations.
For years, some discussions—mostly tongue-in-cheek—circulated in the U.S. and elsewhere suggesting that certain birds might actually be government surveillance tools. While these claims were purely speculative and had no scientific basis, recent advances appear to bring this fanciful idea closer to reality.
From Dead Bird Taxidermy to High-Tech Drones
Early prototypes of flying robots have now been built that use real bird body parts to replicate their natural movement in the sky. According to a recent paper published by the drone’s developers, these robots are designed to provide a realistic and flawless flying experience of birds—or to spy on people for military purposes.
The project’s lead researcher, Iranian scientist Mostafa Hassanalian, is a professor at New Mexico Institute of Technology. He believes that using dead birds instead of artificial structures in drone construction offers significant advantages for performance and realism.
The drones developed by Dr. Hassanalian’s team can currently fly like hummingbirds without flapping their wings. This is made possible by incorporating taxidermied body parts from pigeons, sparrows, hummingbirds, and crows into the robot’s design. Specifically, the head, feathers, and wings are used to closely replicate natural bird movements in flight.
A video accompanying the research demonstrates the drone in action, showcasing its lifelike behavior.
Although the developers describe building such a drone as highly challenging, using natural components reduces the need to mechanically model bird flight—a notoriously complex and difficult process. Zafael Zafferi, a researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) who was not involved in the project, notes that the major advantage of this approach is that it eliminates the need to accurately model bird wings, a process that is extremely difficult in reality.
When Will These Drones Take Flight?
Despite the breakthroughs, it will be some time before these drones can soar freely. Currently, the prototypes are not fully optimized and cannot yet match the agility and dexterity of live birds. The wings are designed to be more flexible for better mimicry, but significant improvements remain necessary.
If intended for espionage, the drones must also become much quieter. Hassanalian reports that the drones still produce a noticeable amount of noise. Developers plan to improve sound insulation and may replace standard gears with helical ones to reduce operational sound.
Ethical concerns about using dead birds in drone construction remain largely unaddressed. The main issue involves considerations of animal welfare—whether the birds were subjected to suffering before death, and the ethics of taxidermy solely for robotic use.
