[TowerTalk] BBC report on bird kills at towers

[n4gi at tampabay.rr.com]

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 at 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
> 
> 
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