Snarge: The Gross (But Important) Term For Remains From Bird Strikes

Flying can be uncomfortable — and sometimes it’s downright unpleasant. One of the more unsettling aviation terms you may not have heard is “snarge”: the remains left behind after an aircraft collides with wildlife. Though the word sounds crude, snarge plays a serious role in aviation safety.

What Is Snarge?

Experts use “snarge” to describe any biological material recovered after a wildlife-aircraft strike: feathers, blood smears, tissue, or even stomach contents. Carla Dove, program manager of the Smithsonian’s Feather Identification Lab, says the term grew up in museum and forensic circles rather than online slang. Snarge can range from a wad of goose lodged in an engine to a tiny rust-colored smear on an aircraft nose.

"Snarge can be a wad of a Canada goose lodged inside an airplane engine. Or it can be a broken and burned gull feather littered along the runway. Snarge can even be as small as a rusty-red smear on the nose of an airliner."

Why Snarge Matters

Identifying the species involved in a strike helps airports and regulators reduce future collisions. Feather identification, and increasingly DNA analysis, tell investigators which animals are attracted to particular airfields and when mitigation is most needed. That information directly informs wildlife-management strategies and improves safety during takeoff and landing — the flight phases when strikes are most likely.

How Airports Respond

Common mitigation steps include:

• Capturing and relocating problem birds
• Deploying trained raptors to scare off flocks
• Using noise cannons, distress-call recordings, and other deterrents
• Removing standing water, clearing food sources, and covering roosting sites with nets
• In rare or extreme cases, targeted lethal control

As Dr. Dolbeer put it, “Really, we just want to make the airport as uncomfortable to birds as possible.”

Not Just Birds

While birds are the most common source of snarge, investigators sometimes find bats, insects, or surprisingly terrestrial animals like frogs, turtles, snakes — even cats and rabbits. Predatory birds can complicate matters further: a raptor may drop prey that is then sucked into an engine, or a struck predator’s stomach contents may be detectable later through genetic testing.

History And Forensics

Snarge is nearly as old as flight itself. Wilbur Wright reported hitting a flock in 1905, and the practice of studying strike remnants advanced dramatically after a tragic incident on October 4, 1960. A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashed into Boston Harbor after takeoff, killing 62 of 72 on board; recovered feathers were identified by Smithsonian ornithologist Roxie Laybourne as belonging to the European starling. Laybourne’s work established feather identification as a vital forensic tool for aviation safety.

Today, snarge analysis combines field collection, museum expertise and genetic tools to reduce the risk of wildlife strikes. Unpleasant as the subject may be, understanding snarge helps keep aircraft, passengers and wildlife safer.