Over 11.6 million birds are killed annually on power lines. Despite this number, birds getting electrocuted is nothing out of the ordinary. Birds are also found dead under power lines daily, leading locals to assume electrocution was the cause of death.
In a recent study, wildlife biologist Eve Thomason and her team went on a hunt for bird carcasses laying under power lines. Overall, they collected over 400 birds under 122 miles of power lines. To everyone’s surprise, many of the birds actually had gunshot wounds and shotgun pellets in them. This means that the birds were actually shot to death, and not electrocuted like many presume. An estimated 66 percent of the birds examined were shot. Most of the shot birds were large, like eagles, ravens, and falcons.
In the past, there have been several reports of birds being shot on powerlines, but no large-scale research was undertaken. After the publication of Thomason’s study, experts concluded that they had underestimated the reports, saying that shooting deaths are more common than they thought. While the percentages varied across multiple sites, they all pointed toward the same conclusion: shootings are causing lots of deaths in these animals.
In the U.S., it’s illegal to kill birds. The country has spent a lot of money creating safer powerlines, and have even made several efforts to make the power lines more visible during the nighttime to prevent collisions. Now that it’s been revealed that not only power lines kill perching birds, the situation becomes more complicated. Before officials take further action, they must better grasp the current moment.
Source(s):
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/science/birds-shot-power-lines.html
In a recent study, wildlife biologist Eve Thomason and her team went on a hunt for bird carcasses laying under power lines. Overall, they collected over 400 birds under 122 miles of power lines. To everyone’s surprise, many of the birds actually had gunshot wounds and shotgun pellets in them. This means that the birds were actually shot to death, and not electrocuted like many presume. An estimated 66 percent of the birds examined were shot. Most of the shot birds were large, like eagles, ravens, and falcons.
In the past, there have been several reports of birds being shot on powerlines, but no large-scale research was undertaken. After the publication of Thomason’s study, experts concluded that they had underestimated the reports, saying that shooting deaths are more common than they thought. While the percentages varied across multiple sites, they all pointed toward the same conclusion: shootings are causing lots of deaths in these animals.
In the U.S., it’s illegal to kill birds. The country has spent a lot of money creating safer powerlines, and have even made several efforts to make the power lines more visible during the nighttime to prevent collisions. Now that it’s been revealed that not only power lines kill perching birds, the situation becomes more complicated. Before officials take further action, they must better grasp the current moment.
Source(s):
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/03/science/birds-shot-power-lines.html
