Having been in the car wash business all my life, I always noticed the biggest bird droppings on white cars. Of course there are more white cars then any other color. I also found yellow vehicles had more bird droppings than normal. I had once or twice tried to put myself in the birds position and thought if I was rolling in for a bomb run in a parking lot or flying over a highway trying to hit an enemy insurgent Honda, which car would be easiest? Most of us would assume a red car or some other color, but in fact the birds seem to like to make their bombing runs on white cars? A study by a student named Charles West from Bristol University in the United Kingdom did a study with 1760 cars and learned that most often the birds made their decision based on the color of their cars and white being the favored color to dive-bomb. The birds attempted to hit the cars and had a 70% kill ratio of landing the turd on the car they tried for. Some birds did not have the bombing skills of our current net-centric Predator UAVs with smart munitions. This study debunked on old wives' tale that seagulls always favored cars, which were blue. In some areas the myth is so pervasive that few people buy blue cars. Fact is a deep, dark or pearl blue colored car is much safer from being a target of our fine feathered friends than the deadly white color. Next time you are shopping for a car you might want to forget the rebates and be careful not to buy a white car or SUV. If you forget, I'll see you at the car wash as our industry is going to the birds indeed. |
