Truely another case of media sensationalism. As a consulting ecologist, I have
wrangled with the tower/wildlife issue on several occasions. I have a bunch of
papers on the issue.
To bring it all into perspective, I like to ask the environmental regulators I
work with how many comm. towers they see on a daily basis (we're in the field
regularly). When they answer, I ask them how many dead birds they've ever seen
under one. The answer: none. There are only two or three documented cases of
mass deaths that I'm aware of, unfortunately those are the folks getting
interviewed all the time.
There's a bunch of unanswered questions regarding the tower/bird death
relationship. I've even read one theory that says predators (big birds) chase
the song birds around the towers during feeding, which causes exhaustion.
Don't worry, our ham towers are safe; as long as you don't get a bald eagle
that decides to nest in it.
73,
Blake N4GI
----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Scace K3NA <eric@k3na.org>
Date: Friday, August 22, 2003 1:33 pm
Subject: [TowerTalk] BBC report on bird kills at towers
> BBC World Service did an interview with a woman from US Fish and
> Wildlife Service about bird kills at communication towers. It was
> short, a few minutes, about 25 minutes after the start of the
> "Outlook" program at 1700z. One might find it on their website
> www.bbc.co.uk.
>
> The woman mentioned a single night in western Kansas during which
> 10,000 songbirds were killed at a tower site. The interviewer
> extrapolated to "millions of birds killed each year in North America".
>
> I don't have facts. If there are facts which can put the matter
> in a better perspective, it might be worthwhile to comment back to
> BBC. An archived story from a reputable news source can take on a
> life of its own...
>
> -- Eric K3NA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers",
> "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-
> 800-333-9041 with any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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