Ildiko Szabo, Assistant Curator of Birds in the Cowan Tetrapod Collection was recently certified as a Forensic Scientist by the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science (SWFS). Ildiko is the second person in the world that SWFS has certified as an Avian Forensic Morphologist and the first Canadian.
Ildiko’s Wildlife Forensics Certificate.
Avian forensic morphology is about solving puzzles. Some samples contain only a single feather or a couple of bones. Much easier samples might have a bird wing or miscellaneous bird parts. Tools of the trade include doing either a feather-to feather comparisons using the 21,000 avian specimens housed at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum or using microscope techniques to identify birds to the family level.
Ildiko showing some bird specimens from the Cowan Tetrapod Collection at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
The best known application of avian forensic morphology is to identify the “snarge” that results when a bird passes through a plane engine. The word snarge is an amalgamation of snot and garbage, which is an excellent descriptor for what such samples look like. Ildiko has analyzed snarge for Vancouver International Airport and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Avian air strike analysis helps Airport Wildlife Managers keep airports safe.
Ildiko anlayzing bird samples.
This very CSI discipline is used to identify or confirm bird species found in government seizures of illegal imported wildlife pets or goods manufactured from wildlife, illegal hunting, or the illegal use of wildlife parts.