It could be more positive to refer to them as women, or female, since you compare with male in the context of the gender ratio. Girls are children, but the pilots in the article are adult scientists.

This was a huge issue for us second wave feminists from the 60’s and 70’s. It seems like the younger generations don’t really care about it any more, as they seem to have other (bigger?) fish to fry.

This comment is a friendly reminder that the purity spiral begins at comment level 3. No handrails below this level. Proceed with caution.

I'm sorry to have to point this out - the story is lovely, and your comment is intended positively - but the pilots were men. The scientists who worked with the birds, and led the expedition, are women, but they were passengers, not aviators.

You're right, I must've missed that on the first read. Shame, could've been a bit more badass. Now I'm wondering what the scientists do throughout the flight. Observe, obviously, but also if they have any signalling going on or any kind of communication with the birds (except "follow us").

It's clear from the article that they were in pretty constant communication with the birds, via megaphone. At one point one of the scientists mentioned calling to one of the birds by name. I couldn't tell (but would like to know) if that implies the birds recognize and respond individually, or whether the names of the recalcitrant were invoked more generally, in imprecation.