In-quack-nito: Researchers at New Mexico Tech building drones out of taxidermy ducks

SOCORRO, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Nothing can be brought back from the dead, but to the naked eye, it looks like researchers two hours north of Las Cruces have done just that.

In the small town of Socorro, New Mexico, dead birds are being given a new life by Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian, professor of mechanical engineering at New Mexico Mining & Technical Institute, better known as NM Tech.

After working with all different types of drones for over sixteen years, he and some of his students are now developing atypical drones built out of taxidermy birds, including ducks and pigeons.

Dr. Hassanalian showed ABC-7 a video of a duck, seemingly swimming in a pond. However, it is actually a drone.

It has legs and feet based on the mechanics of a real duck to travel across the water without anyone noticing, not even real ducks. 

ABC-7 drove up to NM tech to get a first-hand look at these drones.

Graduate student Darion Vosbein is part of the team trying to make these dead ducks and other birds look like they're alive.

“The internal mechanisms are stored in this front part, where we store a battery, a controller with basic control commands, as well as run out controls to these waterproof servos on the bottom, the duck also has a camera mounted on its top left shoulder," said Vosbein while holding the duck.

Another duck is in development to take to the skies.

While it can’t quite fly efficiently yet, graduate student Samuel Meimeko believes they’re getting close.

“The next thing is to design a mechanism that will allow its wings to make this coiling motion, and actually allow to to fly," said Meimeko.

Dr. Hassanalian says they're developing these drones to monitor wildlife.

One of the goals is to study bird migration patters and learn flight dynamics to apply them to human-made planes. 

He says typical quadcopter-style drones pose problems to birds and other animals. 

“The regular drones create noise, animals will begin to scatter, and sometimes we have bird strikes, so these can be a safe platform that will basically save birds from getting harmed, as well as save the drone itself," said Hassanalian.

These drones may not do much to quell fears of some circle of conspiracy theorists, including the satirical movement ‘Birds Aren’t Real,' but Dr. Hassanalian and his team do agree that they raise ethical questions when it comes to civil applications, especially when it comes to how similar technology could be used for surveillance. 

“There might be other applications, such as their use in border patrolling, at the U.S./Mexico border, the current drones they’re using might be shot down. But imagine if you have these birds flying around, with a camera patrolling," he said.

However, the team's focus right now is to simply continue developing and refining the technology. 

In fact, they’re not planning on stopping at just birds.

“We have been looking at reptiles, so now we are going to work with lizards, snakes, and the frog, with climbing, crawling, and jumping capability," said Hassanalian.