Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) is a collection of different groups working to protect Hawaii’s native birds. The biggest concern for these birds is avian malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. Now BNM has started using drones to drop containers of specially treated male mosquitoes, hoping to lower the numbers of mosquitoes threatening the birds.

Hawaii is home to many unique birds, including a group known as honeycreepers. There used to be over 50 different species of honeycreepers. Now, only 17 are left — and these are at great risk. There are only a few individual birds of the ’akikiki left in the wild – and fewer than 100 of the ’akeke’e.

There are several threats to these birds. But the biggest is the avian malaria. Avian malaria is similar to the malaria that humans get, but it only affects birds. The disease is spread by mosquitoes.

The insects are not native to Hawaii, but were first reported in 1826, likely unintentionally carried over by whaling vessels. They caused waves of extinction, as many native birds, such as the honeycreepers, had no resistance to the disease.

Some birds moved higher into Hawaii’s mountains, where it was too cool for mosquitoes. But as the climate has warmed, the insects are even reaching these areas.

In 2016, BNM, along with the American Bird Conservancy and other partners, began a program to lower the numbers of mosquitoes – by releasing more mosquitoes.

That may sound like a bad plan, but there are a couple of tricks involved. First off, they are only releasing male mosquitoes, which don’t bite. Secondly, the mosquitoes they are letting go have been specially treated so that they carry a bacteria called Wolbachia.

Wolbachia doesn’t hurt the mosquitoes, but when male mosquitoes with Wolbachia mate with female mosquitoes, the female’s eggs will never hatch. By releasing huge numbers of specially treated males, the group hopes more and more female mosquitoes will lay eggs that don’t hatch. In time, this should bring mosquito numbers down.

But it’s not easy. The birds that need protection are spread out over large areas in the mountains of different Hawaiian islands.

In 2023, the group began using helicopters to release the mosquitoes. The helicopters drop small paper pods, each with around 1,000 male mosquitoes. The pods fall to the ground, where the mosquitoes are released. The helicopters release about 500,000 male mosquitoes every week to remote forests on two different islands.

But helicopters are expensive, and they’re also a risk for the pilot and passengers. So now, the group is testing the use of drones to deliver mosquito pods. Drones can reach remote areas safely, and more cheaply than helicopters.

But there were challenges. First, the group needed to figure out how to control the temperature of the pods so that the mosquitoes could survive the trip. They also needed to figure out how to carry and release the pods.

The drones delivered their first mosquitoes in April. Once the tests are complete, the group plans to use the drones regularly. They hope the program will give Hawaii’s birds a chance to recover.

“要鸟类，不要蚊子”联盟由多个组织构成，致力于保护夏威夷的本土鸟类。这些鸟类面临的最大威胁是由蚊子传播的禽疟疾。如今，该联盟开始用无人机投放经特殊处理的雄蚊，以期减少威胁鸟类的蚊子数量。

夏威夷栖息着众多独特鸟类，包括一群被称为“旋蜜雀”的物种。这里曾有过50多种旋蜜雀，如今仅存17种，且都面临严重生存危机。野生考岛旋木雀仅剩数只，考岛管舌雀也不足百只。

这些鸟类面临多重威胁，但最大的威胁当属禽疟疾。禽疟疾与人类感染的疟疾相似，但只影响鸟类。该疾病通过蚊子传播。

蚊子并非夏威夷原生物种，最早于1826年被记录，很可能是被捕鲸船无意间带入。它们引发了灭绝浪潮，因为旋蜜雀等许多本土鸟类对这种疾病毫无抵抗力。

部分鸟类被迫迁往海拔更高、气候凉爽不适于蚊子生存的山区。但随着气候变暖，蚊子甚至开始侵入这些区域。

2016年，"要鸟类，不要蚊子"联盟联合美国鸟类保护协会等合作伙伴，启动了一项通过释放更多蚊子来减少蚊子数量的计划。

这听起来似乎是个糟糕的方案，但其中暗藏玄机。首先，他们只释放不吸血的雄蚊；其次，这些被释放的蚊子都经过特殊处理，携带一种名为沃尔巴克氏体的细菌。

这种细菌对蚊子无害，但当携带该细菌的雄蚊与雌蚊交配后，雌蚊产下的卵无法孵化。通过大规模释放经特殊处理的雄蚊，该组织希望越来越多的雌蚊会产下无法孵化的卵。假以时日，蚊子数量应当会下降。

但实施过程并不轻松。需要保护的鸟类分散在夏威夷不同岛屿的广袤山区。2023年，该组织开始使用直升机释放蚊子。直升机投下纸质小容器，每个容器装有约1000只雄蚊。容器落地后，蚊子便被释放。每周，直升机会向两个岛屿的偏远森林投放约50万只雄蚊。

然而直升机不仅成本高昂，还对飞行员和乘客构成风险。因此，该组织正在测试用无人机投放蚊子的方案。无人机能安全抵达偏远区域，且成本低于直升机。

但挑战依然存在：首先需要精确控制容器温度确保蚊子存活，还需解决容器的携带和释放技术问题。

今年四月，无人机成功完成首次蚊子投放。测试完成后，该组织计划定期使用无人机执行任务，期待这项计划能为夏威夷的鸟类赢得生机。

(Translated by DeepSeek)