Aviary: Bird Echolocation to the Rescue

In this episode featuring Aviary — the shapeshifting bird superhero — the surprising abilities of birds come in handy when a student gets lost exploring a cave with his class. Aviary remembers an amazing bird called the Himalayan Swiftlet that’s able to echolocate like a bat, and enlists this species’ superpower to save the day.

BirdNote®
Aviary: Bird Echolocation to the Rescue
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote. I’m Ariana Remmel — well, that’s my alter ego. Once a mild-mannered birder, I was bitten by a radioactive feather mite and became Aviary, capable of transforming into any bird I’ve seen in my travels.

[Aviary theme]

My powers were put to the test recently when I heard on the radio that a local high school student had gotten lost exploring a cave with his class. The rescue team was struggling to find him in the maze of caverns.

[Aviary scene music]
[Radio chatter]

I remembered an amazing bird I saw in Thailand, the Himalayan Swiftlet.

[Himalayan Swiftlet calls]

These birds nest in caves, and they can echolocate like bats to find their way in the dark! The swiftlet’s incredible echolocation might just save the day. I went to the cave as fast as I could.

[Whirlwind transformation noise]
[Himalayan Swiftlet calls]

With the swiftlet’s long, narrow wings, I sped through the labyrinth of tunnels, mapping it out with my clicks. Finally the echolocation calls I sent out bounced off a shape that was distinctly un-rock like — I’d found the student!

[Whirlwind transformation noise]

Student: [gasp] Aviary!

I returned to human form and led the student back to the surface.

[Crowd cheering and applauding; someone shouts “thank you, Aviary!”]

I left happy to have saved another life — and full of appreciation for the tiny swiftlet.

[Himalayan Swiftlet calls]

Learn about the very real superpowers of birds on our website, BirdNote dot org.

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Himalayan Swiftlet ML239744 recorded by Pratap Singh, and Himalayan Swiftlet ML39570671 recorded by Marcel Finlay.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote April 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel

ID# aviary-02-2024-04-10 aviary-02

Reference:
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/himswi2/cur/introduction
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23389972/