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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?

Back on January 15th, US Airways¹ Flight 1549 made that amazing water landing in the Hudson after both engines were taken out by Canada geese, which can weigh eight pounds each. Now scientists have used forensic² techniques to clear local geese—the perpetrators were out-of-towners. The study appears June 8th in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Crash investigators³ sent feather samples from the plane’s engines to the Smithsonian, which has a dedicated⁴ Feather Identification Lab. The researchers examined the feather’s hydrogen isotopes⁶, which include regular hydrogen atoms and hydrogens with additional neutrons⁷. The isotope⁵ ratios tell you about the bird’s diet. And that tells you where they dined.

The analysis showed that the birds that hit the plane were much closer to geese migrating from Canada’s Labrador region than the geese who live year-round in New York. That info could be important for strategies to avoid future bird strikes. The usual techniques for keeping resident birds away from planes are still working—but we need ones for strangers just passing through.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.