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) - military only access

United States Navy Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) - military only access

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.

Recent Publications

Dove, Carla J., Dahlan, Nor F. and Drovetski, Sergei V. 2013. MtDNA ND2 sequence identifies Streaked Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris strigata) from birdstrike to US Air Force F-15 at Portland International Airport, Oregon. Conservation Genetics Resources, 5(2) doi:doi 10.1007/s12686-013-9952-2

Dove, Carla J., Reed, Robert N. and Snow, Ray W. 2012. Consumption of Bird Eggs by Invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida. Reptiles & Amphibians: Conservation and Natural History, 19(1): 64-66.

Dove, Carla J. and Straker, Lorian C. 2012. Comment on "A Diverse Assemblage of Late Cretaceous Dinosaur and Bird Feathers from Canadian Amber". Science, 335(6070): 796 doi:10.1126/science.1216208

Sonsthagen, Sarah, Chesser, Robert Terry, Bell, Douglas and Dove, Carla J. 2012. Hybridization among Arctic white-headed gulls (Larus spp.) obscures the genetic legacy of the Pleistocene. Ecology and Evolution, 2(6): 1278-1295. doi:10.1002/ece3.240

Dove, Carla J. and Olson, Storrs L. 2011. Fossil Feathers from the Hawaiian Flightless Ibis (Apteribis sp.): Plumage Coloration and Systematics of a Prehistorically Extinct Bird. Journal of Paleontology, 85(5): 892-897.

Dove, Carla J., Snow, R., Rochford, M. and Mazzotti, F. 2011. Birds consumed by the invasive Burmese Python Python molurus bivittatus in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 123(1): 126-131.

Dove, Carla J., Dahlan, Nor Faridah, Heacker, Marcy A. and Whatton, James F. 2010. Using Whatman FTA cards to collect DNA for bird-strike identifications. Human-Wildlife Interactions, 5(2): 218-223.

Dove, Carla J. 2010. Microscopy of Feathers: A Practical Guide for Forensic Feather Identification. Journal of the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners, 1(1): 15-17.

Dove, Carla J. and Milensky, Christopher M. 2010. Black Vulture Nest in Pendleton County, West Virginia. The Redstart, 77(4): 136-139.

Maderson, Paul F. A., Hillenius, Willem J., Hiller, Uwe and Dove, Carla J. 2009. Towards a comprehensive model of feather regeneration. Journal of Morphology, 270(10): 1166-1208.

Dove, Carla J., Dahlan, Nor Faridah and Heacker, Marcy 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, Suzanne, Dove, Carla J. and Stepko, Laura 2009. A decade of U.S. Air Force bat strikes. Human-Wildlife Conflicts, 3(2): 199-207.

Marra, Peter P., Dove, Carla J., Dolbeer, Richard, 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, Peter P., Dove, Carla J. and Dolbeer, Richard 2009. Birdstrikes: a reply to Swift et al.. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7(8): 407-408. doi:10.1890/09.WB.026

Complete List of Dove's Publications and Downloadable PDFs