Causes of Bird Mortality

[ScienceRocks]

Causes of Bird Mortality

Causes of Bird Mortality « Sibley Guides

First, it should be stated that the single most significant threat to bird populations is habitat destruction, in all of its forms and with all of its causes. The various causes of mortality outlined below kill individual birds directly, and can certainly have an adverse effect on population size, but can actually have a beneficial effect in some cases. Studies of hunting have documented that in certain cases killing small numbers of birds can improve the health and survival of the remaining birds. As long as the habitat is intact, the population has the potential to replace the lost birds.

In simplest terms, habitat destruction reduces the population by reducing the available resources, denying birds the chance to reproduce, and effectively putting a cap on the population size.
The problems outlined below are serious threats and are implicated in the declines of many species. They should be addressed.

Let's sue window manufactures, hunters, cars manufactures and power companies that put up electric wire!!! Civilization kills birds....Suing the hell out of something you don't like is just dumb. Read the causes of bird death to see that this is very true.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Pesticides may kill 72 million birds per year or possibly many more. The sub lethal effects of pesticides may also make the birds more susceptible to predators or unable to reproduce, essentially killing them. A New York study in 2000 found that common “over-the-counter” pesticides were responsible for more bird deaths there than West Nile Virus. More info about pesticides and birds can be found at The American Bird Conservancy, and BIRDSOURCE atCornell University. The Canadian Wildlife Service maintains a website with information about pesticides at http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/nwrc-cnrf/toxic/what_e.cfm

Oil spills kill hundreds of thousands of birds a year or more. Some of this occurs in dramatic large spills, but most probably occurs in thousands of small incidental spills that are never reported or documented.

Oil and wastewater pits may kill up to 2 million birds per year.

High tension line collisions – may kill up to 174 million birds per year. This figure extrapolates from European studies to the millions of miles of aerial wires in North America. There are very few data in North America.

Electrocutions kill tens of thousands of birds per year. This occurs mainly when large birds such as raptors make contact between a live electrical wire and a ground such as a pole. The relatively small number of birds affected belies the significance of this threat, since species such as Golden Eagle are more susceptible. Large predators like eagles have smaller population sizes and lower reproduction rates than songbirds, so removing a few thousand birds from the population will have a much larger impact than removing the same number of, say, Savannah Sparrows. Studies byHawkWatch International revealed an electrocution rate of just under 1 bird per 100 poles per year, or 547 birds at 74,000 poles in Utah in 2001-2002. About 10% of the birds killed were Golden Eagles, 34% Ravens, and another 25%Buteos (Red-tailed, Swainson’s and Ferruginous Hawks). Fortunately PacifiCorp, the owner of the poles, is committed to making changes to reduce electrocutions, and hopefully other regions will follow.

Cars may kill 60 million birds per year. Of over 8 million lane miles of roads in the US, 6.3 million, or over ¾, are in rural areas where most birds are presumably killed. There’s not much we can do about this source of bird mortality short of changing our driving habits, but landscaping the roadside to discourage birds from congregating there is helpful. My own sense is that small cars with more aerodynamic designs hit fewer birds, while large boxy vans and trucks hit more birds, but I don’t think this has been studied. By the way, 100 years ago there were fewer than 250 miles of paved roads in North America, all in urban centers.

The reason for wind power is the fact that OIL, Coal and other pollutants KILL HUMANS. On top of this wind doesn't kill as much as oil does per year.

 

[Mr. H.]

Agriculture kills birds. Wind turbines kill birds.

Both these industries should be banished.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Agriculture kills birds. Wind turbines kill birds.

Both these industries should be banished.

Why not just banish civilization?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Daily Kos: Wind power: birds, landscapes and availability (I)

Cars kill thousands of times more birds
Windows kill thousands of times more birds
Oil kills 20-50 times more
Hunters kill more
Your cats kill more

Let's drop this stupid argument!

Should we kill the cats as they're number one in killing birds?

 

[tinydancer]

Heads up Matt. Prosecutions and convictions are going to be the norm up and coming.


U.S. energy company fined 1 mln USD for wind turbine bird deaths
English.news.cn 2013-11-25 17:27:44

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- In a first for the industry, a large energy company has pleaded guilty to violating the American Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in connection with the deaths of protected birds at two of its wind turbine farms in Wyoming.

Duke Energy Renewables, a subsidiary of Fortune 250 company Duke Energy, admitted to killing more than 160 birds, including 14 golden eagles and 149 other protected birds, between 2009 and 2013 at two of its commercial wind projects, "Campbell Hill" and "Top of the World," which have 176 turbines. The company has been fined 1 million U.S. dollars.

U.S. energy company fined 1 mln USD for wind turbine bird deaths - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[Mr. H.]

Death by wind blade- acceptable
Death by hydrocarbon- unacceptable.

 

[tinydancer]

Matthew I'm only talking about the protected birds. Lord only knows how many others have been killed.

A study by government biologists in September found that wind turbines had killed at least 67 bald and golden eagles since 2008. That did not include deaths at Altamont Pass, an area in northern California where wind farms kill an estimated 60 eagles a year.

Until now, no wind energy company had been prosecuted for a death of an eagle or other protected bird, even though each death breaks the law.

"Wind energy is not green if it is killing hundreds of thousands of birds," said George Fenwick, president of the American Bird Conservancy, which supports properly-sited wind farms.

"The unfortunate reality is that the flagrant violations of the law seen in this case are widespread."

Wind farm bird deaths landmark fine - Independent.ie

 

[tinydancer]

Daily Kos: Wind power: birds, landscapes and availability (I)

Cars kill thousands of times more birds
Windows kill thousands of times more birds
Oil kills 20-50 times more
Hunters kill more
Your cats kill more

Let's drop this stupid argument!

Should we kill the cats as they're number one in killing birds?

You have to read your charts properly Matt. And always remember to check the source and date.

Daily Kos used a chart that was released in 2002. 11 years old to prove their theory that wind farms aren't causing a lot of damage.

How many wind farms existed in 2002? Think about it.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Death by wind blade- acceptable
Death by hydrocarbon- unacceptable.

really?

Hydrocarbons pollute our atmosphere and kill humans. What's more important? Honest question.

Secondly, cars kill thousands of times more. Do we stop driving them?

 

[ScienceRocks]

Do we stop adding windows to our homes?
Do we stop hunting?
Do we stop running wire to power our society for thousands of miles.

Some arguments are baseless.

 

[ScienceRocks]

 

[tinydancer]

And the article is from 2005

Mon Jul 11, 2005 at 09:29 AM PDT
Daily Kos: Wind power: birds, landscapes and availability (I)

 

[ScienceRocks]

Nuclear is probably better but it isn't politically variable like wind and solar.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Oil kills a broad range of animals from birds to fish at a far higher rate!

Safety4Sea | Oil spill at Port of Portland terminal

 

[tinydancer]

Kiev in the Ukraine?

The difference between bird deaths from oil spills and massive bird and bat deaths due to wind farms is the obvious.

Wind Farms tout themselves as being "green". Oil companies do not.

 

[daveman]

Agriculture kills birds. Wind turbines kill birds.

Both these industries should be banished.

Why not just banish civilization?

That's what AGW cultists want.

Personally, I don't see what's so sweet about living in a yurt and burning bison shit for heat, but if that's what you want to make you feel one with Mother Gaea, go for it.

Just don't insist I join you. I enjoy civilization.

 

[ScienceRocks]

You know what's important to me? HUMANS.

Coal and oil causes cancer and is killing people at a very high rate throughout china right now. The rates of cancer is mind blowing....

Wind kills less birds and doesn't kill other animals. Most importantly it doesn't KILL HUMANS.

 

[ScienceRocks]

A massive oil fish kill.

I believe in nuclear but that isn't going to work as to many people don't like it.

 

[daveman]

Daily Kos: Wind power: birds, landscapes and availability (I)

Cars kill thousands of times more birds
Windows kill thousands of times more birds
Oil kills 20-50 times more
Hunters kill more
Your cats kill more

Let's drop this stupid argument!

Should we kill the cats as they're number one in killing birds?

Cars, windows, oil, hunters, and cats don't claim to be saving the planet.