Related Links - More information on Bird Strikes

Bird Strike Committee USA

FAA Airport Wildlife Hazard Mitigation

United States Air Force Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH)

United States Navy Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH)

Bird Strike Identification Media Links

• Audubon Magazine on-line: "Feather Forensics" May 2009
• Birder's World Magazine: "Scientists say US Airways plane hit migratory Canada Geese" 8 June 2009
• Bloomberg.com: "Jet Hit 3 Geese in River Landing, Smithsonian Says" June 2009
• Federal Aviation Administration - Wildlife Hazard Mitigation
• Newsweek: "BSI Bird Strike Investigation" 9 June 2009
• Scientific American: "Hudson Plane: Out-of-Town Geese Did It" June 2009
• WJLA, TV 7 ABC news: "CSI: Bird Strikes -- Smithsonian Team Investigates Bird Strikes" 24 March 2009
• You Tube: Flight 1549 Bird Strike Lab Visit

Education

Ph.D., George Mason University (1998)
MSc., George Mason University (1994)
BS., University of Montana (1986)
A.A.S, Lord Fairfax Community College (1983)

Research Interests

Conducts specialized research in the microscopic identification of feathers. Current research involves establishing techniques in this newly developing field within Ornithology, which applies forensic methodologies to determine species of birds from fragmentary evidence using microscopy, whole feather comparisons with museum specimens and DNA 'barcoding'. The most important application of this research is to the field of aviation safety and determining identifications of birds that are ingested into aircraft engines (birdstrikes). See FAA website. Data are used by civil and military aviation to design safer engines and windscreens, to create an Air Force data base that is used to predict bird movements and provide bird hazard warnings to pilots, and to improve habitat management schemes at airfields to discourage bird use. She is a member of Smithsonian Ornithology and collaborates with scientists in the fields of Anthropology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Air Force (BASH), U.S. Navy, U.S. Customs, USDA Wildlife Services, Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and aircraft engine manufacturers.

Selected Publications

Maderson, P.F.A., Hillenius, W.J., Hiller, U. and Dove, C.C. 2009. Towards a comprehensive model of feather regeneration, Journal of Morphology, 270(10):1166-1208

Dove, C., Dahlan, N.F. and Heacker, M. 2009. Forensic bird-strike identification techniques used in an accident investigation at Wiley Post Airport, Oklahoma, 2008, Human-Wildlife Conflicts, 3(2):179-185

Peurach, S., Dove, C. and Stepko, L. 2009. A decade of U.S. Air Force bat strikes, Human-Wildlife Conflicts, 3(2):199-207

Marra, P.P., Dove, C.J., Dolbeer, R., Dahlan, N.F., Heacker, M., Whatton, J.F., Diggs, N.E., France, C. and Henkes, G.A. 2009. Migratory Canada geese cause crash of US Airways Flight 1549, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7(6):297-301

Marra, P.P., Dove, C. and Dolbeer, R. 2009. Birdstrikes: a reply to Swift et al., Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7(8):407-408

Dove, C.J., Rotzel, N.C., Heacker, M. and Weigt, L.A. 2008. Using DNA Barcodes to Identify Birds Involved in Birdstrikes, Journal of Wildlife Management, 72(5):1231-1236

Dove, C.J., Clapp, R.B. and Willis, C. 2008. First Specimen record of Great White Heron In Virginia, Banisteria, 30:35-36

Dove, C.J. and Goodroe, C. 2008. Marbled Godwit collides with aircraft at 3,700 m, Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120(4):914-915

Dove, C.J. and Agreda, A. 2007. Differences in plumulaceous feather characters of dabbling and diving ducks, Condor, 109(1):192-199

Dove, C.J., Arijke, A.M., Wang, X. and Andrews, L.S. 2007. Infrared analysis of contour feathers. The conservation of body heat radiation in birds, Journal of thermal biology, 32(1):42-46

Ishtiaq, F., Gering, E., Rappole, J.H., Rahmani, A.R., Jhala, Y., Dove, C.J., Milensky, C.M., Olson, S.L., Peirce, M.A. and Fleischer, R.C. 2007. Prevalence and diversity of avian haematozoan parasites in Asia: A regional survey, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3):382-398

Kerr, K.C.R., Stoeckle, M.Y., Dove, C.J., Weigt, L., Francis, C.M. and Hebert, D.N. 2007. Comprehensive DNA barcode coverage of North American birds, Molecular Ecology Notes, 7(4):535-543

Maderson, P.F.A., Hillenius, W.J., Hiller, U. and Dove, C.J. 2007. The developmental significance of a neglected feather component, Journal of Morphology, 268(12):1101-1101

Dove, C.J. 2007. Birdstrike, International Civil Aviation Organizations, (5):18-21

Fleischer, R.C., Kirchman, J.J., Dumbacher, J.P., Bevier, L., Dove, C.J., Rotzel, N.C., Edwards, S.V., Lammertink, M., Miglia, K. and Moore, W.S. 2006. Mid-Pleistocene divergence of Cuban and North American ivory-billed woodpeckers, Biology Letters, 2(3):466-469

Woodman, N., Dove, C.J. and Peurach, S.C. 2005. A curious pellet from a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), Northeastern Naturalist, 12(2):127-132

Dove, C.J., Hare, P.G. and Heacker, M. 2005. Identification of Ancient Feather Fragments Found in Melting Alpine Ice Patches in Southern Yukon, Arctic, 58(1):38-43

Dove, C.J., Heacker, M. and Adair, B. 2004. In Memoriam: Roxie Collie Laybourne, 1910-2003, Auk, 121(4):1282-1285

Dove, C.J. and Peurach, S.C. 2002. "Microscopic Analysis of Feather and Hair Fragments Associated wiht Human Mummified Remains from Kagamil Island, Alaska". Pp. 51-62 in To the Aleutians and Beyond - The Anthropology of William S.Laughlin. (). Dept. of Ethnography, National Museum of Denmark

Dove, C.J. and Heacker, M. 2002. Egyptian Nightjar (Caprimulgus aegyptius) in North America?, Journal of Field Ornithology, 73(1):60-61

Rogers, J.D., Dove, C.J., Heacker, M. and Graves, G.R. 2002. Identification of Feathers in Textiles from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, Southeastern Archaeology, 21:245-251

Dove, C.J. and Banks, R.C. 1999. A taxonomic study of crested carbcaras (Falconidae), Wilson Bulletin, 111(3):330-339

Dove, C.J. 1997. Quantification of microscopic feather characters used in the identification of North American plovers, Condor, 99(1):47-57

Banks, R.C. and Dove, C.J. 1992. The Generic Name for Crested Caracaras (Aves, Falconidae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 105(3):420-425