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Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

sciencedaily.com

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Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#41

Post by hristov »

tocomment wrote: post #15

I wonder at what point natural selection will start taking effect?

It is wrong to rely on natural selection for animals to adapt to humans. If that is our philosophy pretty soon we will be left with nothing but numerous species of cockroaches, rats and mosquitoes.

There are many animals that are well adapted to live with humans but most of them are actually bad for humans. Thus, we have to ensure other species survive if for nothing other than the whole they leave ecosystem will likely be filled by harmful species.

For example, the biggest beneficiaries of those millions of dead birds are the mosquitoes and various other insects that are most often food for those dead birds.

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#42

Post by larsbot »

kinleyd wrote: post #2

That is a tragically large number, and the solution seems easy enough to implement. Activism is the likely missing ingredient. Something needs to be done.

The solution is to build new towers without guy-wires.

To operate a communications tower in the US, you need a permit from the FCC. To get a permit or renew a permit from the FCC, you have to file an Environmental Impact Statement. Based on this study, it will likely no longer be possible to claim that a tower with guy-wires has no significant impacts. This means towers without guy-wires will likely be the preferred alternative in an EIS, and what you will have to build if you want a new permit. To renew a permit, you will likely have to have blinking lights, or at least have a very convincing reason for not using them in your EIS.

Also, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, with a few exceptions, outlaws all take of migratory birds. That will likely also come into play.

Activism and lawsuits may speed up the process, but assuming this study is replicated by future studies, the wheels have already started turning.

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#44

Post by teeray »

cydonian_monk wrote: post #23
Swizec wrote: post #11

Earlier 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…

Blue Jays are corvids as well and have a tremendous ability to learn. We had peanuts strewn about a table on our deck for the Jays as well as inside a peanut dispenser for the squirrels. When the first Blue Jay arrived, it called dozens more and the peanuts on the table were exhausted in a matter of minutes. After this, they sat on the railing of the deck and watched the squirrels use the peanut dispenser. After a minute or two of observation, one jumped down and mimicked the squirrel clumsily and was then able to get another peanut. The ones in the dispenser didn't last long after that...

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#45

Post by Nick_C »

aqme28 wrote: post #7
_delirium wrote: post #3

It'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...

The difference is that birds killed by glass are in an urban environment and, because of that, are adapted and, with a few exceptions, not endangered.

In contrast, almost all wind turbines are in rural or wild environments where some endangered species may live.

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#46

Post by Nick_C »

ilkandi wrote: post #24

It 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 fas…

According to this from the FAA, they commonly approve flashing lights:

http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/policy/dtv/lighting.html

And this advisory (PDF, admittedly from the Alaskan office, but I doubt there is much variance), provides for flashing lights on towers:

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato...

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#47

Post by Confusion »

_delirium wrote: post #3

It'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.

It's a myth that windmills kill significant numbers of birds, either per mill or per GWh produced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_wind_p...

Re: Almost 7 million birds perish at communication towers in North America each year

#48

Post by westicle »

tomjen3 wrote: post #37
Anechoic wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I assumed there were a lot fewer towers. Either way, I still wonder why this story was selected and not some other story (there is only so many stories a news paper can write) and because I have become cynical I assume that it was either a PR agency or pandering. I have not heard any evidence for anything else.

I'm going to assume kangaroos have psychokinetic powers and are secretly plotting to take over the world.

I have not heard any evidence for anything else.

Surely it is up to you to disprove my theory if you don't think it is correct.

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