FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] More dangers to birds: man-made structures

["IE Ries" <featherchaser@xxxxxxxxxx>]

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051006/ap_on_re_us/bird_kill

   
  TV Tower Wires Kill 400 Birds in One Night 
  Thu Oct 6, 8:03 AM ET 

  MADISON, Wis. - As many as 400 songbirds were killed in one night after they 
flew into wires holding up a television tower. 

  The deaths may spur the creation of a group to study the dangers 
communication towers pose to migrating birds, said specialists with the 
Department of Natural Resources.
  "It's an issue that has been with us for decades," DNR avian ecologist Sumner 
Matteson said. "But we really haven't done anything about it."

  The birds were killed the night of Sept. 13-14 at the WMTV tower.

  "There were birds all over the place," said Steven Ugoretz, a DNR 
environmental specialist who works on tower-related issues.

  Searchers found 172 birds around the base of the 1,100-foot tower. Crows, 
cats and other scavengers took another 200 or more, and Ugoretz estimates more 
birds likely died because no one searched a heavily wooded area just north of 
the tower.

  A similar kill occurred the night of Sept. 7-8, Ugoretz said.

  Such kills are not unusual during spring and fall migrations, though Ugoretz 
and Matteson said they are an increasing concern because of multiple threats to 
the world's songbirds.

  Most of the dead birds Sept. 14 were warblers. Other birds included red-eyed 
vireos, American redstarts, ovenbirds, common yellowthroats and a rose-breasted 
grosbeak.

  Matteson and Ugoretz said they want to form a task force of bird experts and 
communications industry representatives to study the issue. Possible solutions 
include using lights to illuminate wires and changing the blinking frequency of 
red warning lights, Matteson said.

  A telephone message left for WMTV's general manager was not immediately 
returned Wednesday.