If only they could all be grackles.
Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
21–30 of 48 posts
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fortunately we don't have to choose! We can make the red lights more blinky, apparently.
7 million dead birds seems like it would be easy to video/photograph. Choosing to forego documentation that supports these claims has to be intentional.
Please take some time to research your inner techniques of logic, and how you assume outcomes and motives (in general). You appear (to me) prone to jumping to definite conclusions based on faulty logic and/or incomplete data. Not an attack, just a comment.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
And that pales in comparison to the number of birds killed by glass. Estimates of 100 million to 1 billion birds annually in the US alone. Every time I hear bird-deaths as an argument against windmills I want to scream until I die. [1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4134773/ns/us_news-environment/t...
Birds dying from glass is actually a rather simple problem to solve - eagle stickers. Apparently if you put a sticker of an eagle's silhuette on every couple of windows most birds will stay away and won't hit the glass. I see this mostly done on our motorways though ... never seen it on a skyscraper yet.
It wouldn't stop the crows where I work. They patrol the skies like the RAF during a zeppelin raid. Not only do they chase off bigger birds, like eagles and buzzards, but they go after most anything that moves (except humans... for now). To top it off, they systematically test the windows of our building every two weeks or so. They'll fly up to peck or pound on one window, then work clockwise around the building.
Scary smart birds.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#24It seems to be an easy fix to reduce an unnecessary environmental impact, save animal lives, save money on carcass cleanup crews and wire damage, and increase public goodwill. Is there a FAA reason for having steady lights, is it bureacratic inertia, or are the rules accommodating the owners of older towers, or the manufacturers of steady lights?
I think if I were a pilot a flashing light would catch my attention faster than a steady one (cf, blinking vehicle turn signals).
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
7 million dead birds seems like it would be easy to video/photograph. Choosing to forego documentation that supports these claims has to be intentional.
Please take some time to research your inner techniques of logic, and how you assume outcomes and motives (in general). You appear (to me) prone to jumping to definite conclusions based on faulty logic and/or incomplete data. Not an attack, just a comment.
I can't fault him. Incomplete data is what we have in the real world and while he has shown no evidence in this story a lot of what we read in the media is planted to either pander to their readers or from public relation firms.
I don't think it is a bad habit to assume that this has been planted for some reason. If not, 7 million birds should be enough that you can see them drop in droves. 7 million is a very, very high number.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Birds dying from glass is actually a rather simple problem to solve - eagle stickers. Apparently if you put a sticker of an eagle's silhuette on every couple of windows most birds will stay away and won't hit the glass. I see this mostly done on our motorways though ... never seen it on a skyscraper yet.
It wouldn't stop the crows where I work. They patrol the skies like the RAF during a zeppelin raid. Not only do they chase off bigger birds, like eagles and buzzards, but they go after most anything that moves (except humans... for now). To top it off, they systematically test the windows of our building every two weeks or so. They'll fly up to peck or pound on one window, then work clockwise around the building. Sca…
They use tools and seem to have a amazing knowledge of the exact range of a shotgun. The local farmers tend not to be amused by some of their antics and feeding habits.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#27That is a tragically large number, and the solution seems easy enough to implement. Activism is the likely missing ingredient. Something needs to be done.
It is birds. Not humans. More humans properly perish from lack of communication. Screw the birds. Humans are better.
Eventually you'd discover that (in some as yet unknown, obscure way) humans can't survive without birds. For your edification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#28It's a bit odd that we hear a lot more about the ~300k birds killed annually by windmills than 7 million killed by communication towers (I didn't even know about this one). I would guess because windmills are a hotter political issue.
And that pales in comparison to the number of birds killed by glass. Estimates of 100 million to 1 billion birds annually in the US alone. Every time I hear bird-deaths as an argument against windmills I want to scream until I die. [1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4134773/ns/us_news-environment/t...
Well, isn't that at least partly because the number of glass windows in most parts of the country is several orders of magnitude greater than the number of windmills? We might need to consider the bird-kill argument a bit more seriously if the plan is to build windmills all over the place.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please take some time to research your inner techniques of logic, and how you assume outcomes and motives (in general). You appear (to me) prone to jumping to definite conclusions based on faulty logic and/or incomplete data. Not an attack, just a comment.
I can't fault him. Incomplete data is what we have in the real world and while he has shown no evidence in this story a lot of what we read in the media is planted to either pander to their readers or from public relation firms. I don't think it is a bad habit to assume that this has been planted for some reason. If not, 7 million birds should be enough that you can see them drop in droves. 7 million is a very, very…
As noted above, 7 million birds per year, spread across 84,000 towers is about 1 bird per tower every four days. That alone isn't exactly noticeable, and given that most towers are located in out-of-the-way areas, that number of bird deaths could very easily escape notice by most people.
Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
And that pales in comparison to the number of birds killed by glass. Estimates of 100 million to 1 billion birds annually in the US alone. Every time I hear bird-deaths as an argument against windmills I want to scream until I die. [1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4134773/ns/us_news-environment/t...
Well, isn't that at least partly because the number of glass windows in most parts of the country is several orders of magnitude greater than the number of windmills? We might need to consider the bird-kill argument a bit more seriously if the plan is to build windmills all over the place.
This link: http://www.coeccc.net/Environmental_Scans/wind_scan_sw_09.pd... there are about 25,000 turbines in the USA. According to GP, 300,000/year birds are killed by wind turbines, which results in about 12 birds killed per turbine per year. This compares with about 83 birds per radio tower.
Of course the growth rate of wind turbines vs towers (and glass windows) is probably different, so you have a point.