Fcc to Reduce Bird Kills?

Scientists have found that millions of birds are killed each year when they crash into communication towers. Now officials at the Federal Communications Commission are thinking about making companies change the way they build the towers. Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

Scientists have found that millions of birds are killed each year when they crash into communication towers. Now officials at the Federal Communications Commission are thinking about making companies change the way they build the towers. Mark Brush has more:


The explosion of cell phones has meant an explosion of new communication towers, but when these towers are built using guy wires, and use traditional lighting systems, they can end up really hurting bird populations.


Steve Holmer is with the American Bird Conservancy. He says the steady red lights on these towers can confuse birds that use stars to migrate at night.


“The birds are actually attracted to these towers, kind of like a moth to the flame, and will actually circle around them and strike the towers, or strike the guide wires, or actually just keep circling until they exhaust themselves.”


Holmer says that simply replacing these lights with white strobe lights would help a lot.


The FCC will be seeking public comments on whether or not they should require that new communication towers be bird friendly.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

Related Links

Migrating Birds Hurt by Communication Towers

Every year, more than 5 thousand new communications towers
are erected throughout the United States. They’re needed for cell
phones,
television and radio stations and 911 networks. But at this time of
year,
these towers become deadly obstacles. It’s estimated millions of
migrating birds are killed each year when they collide with towers in
their
flight path. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports,
there’s a growing consensus that something needs to be done: