Better way to keep birds from hitting power lines

Date: June 24, 2020

Source: Oregon State University    

Suspended, rotating devices known as "flappers" may be the key to fewer birds flying into power lines, a study by Oregon State University suggests.

The findings by researchers in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences are important because around the globe both the number of power lines and concern over bird fatalities are on the rise.

Research has documented more than 300 species of birds dying from hitting power lines, with one study estimating that more than 170 million perish annually in the United States and another estimating the global death toll to be 1 billion per year. There's also the problem of power outages that bird strikes can cause.

Conservation managers and utilities many years ago developed flight diverters, basically regularly spaced devices that make the lines more visible, as a step toward reducing the number of birds flying into the lines.

The most common type are the PVC spirals, which are durable and easy to install, but how well they actually work isn't well understood. Though they've been in use for nearly four decades, strike rates remain high for a number of species.

OSU researchers Virginia Morandini and Ryan Baumbusch were part of an international collaboration that compared the effectiveness of three types of flight diverters: yellow PVC spiral; orange PVC spiral; and a flapper model with three orange and red polypropylene blades with reflective stickers.

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Heathrow Airport hawk stolen outside hotel

By Alexandra Deabler | Fox News

A bird of prey who worked protecting the skies of Heathrow Airport was stolen from its owner’s van in the UK on Tuesday evening.

Police are actively looking into the incident after CCTV footage released shows three men smashing the window of the van while it was parked outside a hotel next to the airport, and grabbing the six-year-old hawk, Sky News reported.

The Harris hawk, Milo, was used to scare away other birds at the airport to prevent bird strikes from occurring.

Milo’s owner Layla Bennett was checking into the Mercure hotel when she left the hawk in the backseat. When she went back to retrieve him, he had been taken, Sky News reported.

According to the video footage, Bennett said Milo would not go with the men at first.

"He eventually did when they grabbed him forcefully, he was flapping and very distressed.

"Then they threw him into the car and drove off with him out of his box,” the told The Sun.

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Falcons drafted in to scare off defecating starlings from Rome

Plan to clean up Italian capital condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaigners

Angela Giuffrida in Rome

Fri 23 Nov 2018 12.09 GMTLast modified on Fri 23 Nov 2018 12.32 GMT

Authorities in Rome have enlisted falcons to scare off defecating starlings, as the Italian capital plays host to a growing menagerie of animals, including gulls, wild boars and sheep.

Starlings pass through the city in late autumn as they migrate to warmer climes for winter, soiling its cobblestones and riverbanks with sticky guano and bothering residents and tourists, who often use umbrellas to avoid the droppings.

Part of the road that runs along the Tiber River was closed earlier this week because the birds had left so much excrement, prompting authorities to call on a team of falconers. It is unclear when the birds of prey will take to the skies, but their job will be to frighten the starlings away from their nesting spots, such as the trees along the streets.

The Rome department in charge of environmental sustainability said the measure constituted a “cruelty-free, ecological and natural solution” to the starling problem.

Animal rights activists condemned the initiative as “barbaric”. “The environmental sustainability council says that using hawks to fight starlings is ‘cruelty-free, ecological and natural’ – these are shameful words that justify what is a cruel and anachronistic method,” said Rinaldo Sidoli, a communication manager for Animalisti Italiani.

He added that the deterrent violated a municipal rule which prohibits the “release into the environment of birds, except those treated by authorised wild animal recovery centres”.

An initiative involving falcons in 2015 also drew criticism. Previous city authorities experimented with playing recordings of starling distress calls in an attempt to get the birds, who tend to descend on the city at dusk, to flee.

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Window Coverings Mimic Tree Branches to Deter Birds

The University of Florida is experimenting with a unique window design that mimics tree branches to help prevent bird collisions.

April 26, 2018, at 1:50 a.m.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The University of Florida is experimenting with a unique window design that mimics tree branches to help prevent bird collisions.

School officials say birds hitting windows has been a campus-wide problem for years. Mark Hostetler is a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation in UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He says they asked students to monitor buildings two years ago to see where the bulk of the collisions were occurring.

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Birds of prey used to deter "nuisance" seagulls from Weymouth Harbour

Birds of prey used to deter "nuisance" seagulls from Weymouth Harbour

Birds of prey used to deter "nuisance" seagulls from Weymouth Harbour

18 Apr 2016 / Meghan Hindley, Trainee Reporter / @DorsetEchoMeg

BIRDS of prey are helping deter seagulls from hassling members of the public in and around Weymouth Harbour.

The borough council, along with NBC Bird and Pest Solutions, hosted a birds of prey display outside the Weymouth Harbour office on Custom House Quay at the weekend to showcase how the birds can be used to deter seagulls from the area.

The idea is the birds will deter gulls so that visitors can enjoy the ‘sitting out culture’ on the harbour and enjoy a meal or drinks without being interrupted.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s harbourmaster, Keith Howorth, said: "As a harbour we are working together to try to deter the seagulls from the area.

"We are also pushing forward with the message that people shouldn't feed the seagulls.

"This is the first time we have shown the public what we do but we have been working with the company for the past 18 months."

For an hour the birds of prey - Harris Hawks - were flown around the harbour with residents eagerly looking on. Within minutes the hoards of gulls had dispersed and couldn't be seen.

Darren Bishop, regional surveyor and business development manager at NBC Bird and Pest Solutions, said: "As a company we have more than 300 working birds of prey. We train them up from an birth.

"The reason we use Harris Hawks is because they are not a native bird to this country so they are a bigger threat to the seagulls.

"The only thing Harris Hawks are afraid of is dogs. We are doing this more and more of this now. We've been doing this in Plymouth town centre and we've just started one in Bath."

Read on ...

Keeping the birds away with gel

Odorous product being tested in housing estates facing bird menace

PUBLISHED ON JUN 1, 2015 5:44 AM

BY SAMANTHA BOH

A GEL that deters birds with its smell is the new weapon being tried out against the bird nuisance in two housing estates in the west.

The herb-based product from Japan is being tested in Bukit Batok and Choa Chu Kang by the authorities here.

Along a path in Bukit Batok Avenue 1, containers of the gel have been placed above five lamp posts, which are common roosting places for birds because of their broad and flat tops.

Not too far away, another trial is being conducted at Block 755 in Choa Chu Kang North 5. Rows of containers with the gel line the ledges on the sides of the block.

- See more at:

New bird spikes at the tennis courts

ESCANABA -- The City of Escanaba’s newly resurfaced tennis courts are not only loved by our local athletes, but also the seagulls. Until recently, these birds were perching on the court’s lights and dropping waste on its surface.

To address this issue, the city purchased 3 to 4 inch bird spikes. These spikes were installed on top of each of the court’s 22 lights. As an added bonus, the city was able to change a few old bulbs while they were using the bucket truck. The bird issue was brought to the city’s attention by community members.

“We’re always looking to take feedback from the public,” said City of Escanaba recreation director, Tom Penegor. “In this case, it was something that we could do, tried, and did and it’s working and hopefully they’ll last a long time.”

The entire bird spike project cost less than $500.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=1089600#.VACGWNJdXp8

Nutley to target bird population with grape-scented aerosol fogger

AUGUST 11, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014, 9:05 AM

BY HASIME KUKAJ

STAFF WRITER

NUTLEY SUN

Thousands of birds, mainly starlings, roost along Wilson and Milton streets in Nutley.

Nutley will be overnight "fogging" in and around DeMuro Park next week in an effort to control the bird population, the township announced Monday.

The Bird Doctor Nationwide plans to apply the Thermal Dyna Fogger between Monday, Aug. 18, and Saturday, Aug. 23, in an area bordering Bloomfield, Margaret, Van Winkle and Wilson avenues. DeMuro Park will be closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. those evenings.

The fogger contains a methyl anthranilate aerosol, which the township states is environmentally responsible. The EPA has classified the chemical as a naturally occurring flavorant, and the FDA has labeled it "generally regarded as safe." It is also used in grape gum.

Nutley Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mauro Tucci recently said that the application would not kill the birds but would make them "not like the area anymore."

According to a township announcement:

The method is a pain stimulus in the trigeminal nerves which are found in the throats and mucus membranes of the beak and eyes. Almost all animals have these nerves, yet only birds have a negative response to methyl anthranilate. Birds "feel" it as pain, while mammals, including humans, perceive it as a grape scent.

Birds inhaling the aerosol immediately respond to the discomfort, evacuating the location without delay.

See more at: 

Calif. city turns to birds of prey to solve problems

AVALON, Calif. — For years, this island harbor town has had serious tourism problems: Its beaches were consistently rated among the most polluted on the West Coast, and its waterfront was crowded with aggressive gulls that harassed visitors and stole food off their plates.

All that has changed, and leaders are giving much of the credit to a group of environmental enforcers they hired — Larry the hawk, Chin the falcon and Big Al the owl.

They are raptors, or birds of prey, trained to bloodlessly drive off pests fouling the harbor with waste droppings.

“We brought in a natural solution,” city manager Ben Harvey says.

Led by licensed master falconer Rocky Post and joined by a few feathered colleagues, the winged residents quickly established rule of the skies over Avalon, clearing the air and water in this resort center of Santa Catalina Island off the coast from Los Angeles.

Post, 60, a retired Torrance firefighter who has trained birds since before he was a teen, has become the bird man of Avalon, a popular and visible figure walking daily through streets, restaurants and shops with a raptor on a gloved hand or on the wing.

When Post first met with city leaders last fall to discuss their problems, he counted 40 gulls on or around their outdoor dining table. These days, those tables are mostly clear. When a bird does show up, a quick flyby from Larry is usually enough to scare away the straggler.

“When you put a predator back on top of the food chain, things start to balance out,” Post says.

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New Solar Powered Sound Bird Deterrent

Mission Viejo, CA, September 04, 2013 –(PR.com)– Bird-B-Gone, Inc. the leading manufacturer of effective, humane bird deterrents has added an exciting new product to their extensive line of bird deterrents. The Solar Bird Chase Sonic, a solar powered sound deterrent – plays recorded bird distress and predator calls to deter birds from large open spaces.

The Solar Bird Chase Sonic appeals to birds’ natural instincts by alerting them of nearby danger. When birds hear the recorded calls they will want to avoid the area being treated. A solar panel mounted on top of the unit powers the system during the day, while rechargeable batteries keep the unit running at night.

Sound bird deterrents that play actual bird calls have proven to be a better option than ultrasonic devices, as peer reviewed scientific studies through universities and government agencies have shown that the majority of bird species do not hear on ultrasonic levels.

The standard Bird Chase Sonic unit sold by Bird-B-Gone, Inc. since 2000 has recently received national attention after being installed in a MTA station in New York. The new solar version will be a wonderful add-on for protecting large spaces far from electrical outlets or for people wanting to conserve energy.

The unit can be programmed to the type of bird posing a problem and can be set to play day, night or both. The Solar Bird Chase Sonic is lightweight, compact and water resistant for outdoor use.

To learn more about the Solar Bird Chase Sonic or any other Bird-B-Gone product, please call 1-800-392-6915, email nobirds@birdbgone.com or visit http://www.birdbgone.com

Contact Information:

Bird-B-Gone

Ashley Johnson

800-392-6915

Contact via Email

www.birdbgone.com

Read the full story here: http://www.pr.com/press-release/513854

http://www.watchlistnews.com/2013/09/04/new-solar-powered-sound-bird-deterrent/

Use of cannons to deter birds spurs counterattack

SPENCER, Ind. (AP) — There seems to be a truce between neighbors on Timber Ridge Road, where dueling propane cannons have been silent since Monday.

Steve Dean and his wife live adjacent to Owen Valley Winery, where grapes hang heavy on the vine. About two weeks ago, owner Anthony Leaderbrand began firing a propane-fueled cannon to shoo away doves and other birds that were plucking his nearly ripe hybrid red Marechal Foch grapes.

He said the cannon fired every 10 or 15 minutes for a few hours in the morning and evening. Neighbors were upset by the loud shotgun blast sound. Dean took up a petition and got signatures from 43 neighbors who wanted the cannon blasts to stop.

He even went to a county commissioners meeting Aug. 19 to complain. County attorneyRichard Lorenz explained that a state law prohibits the commissioners from having jurisdiction over farming operations and suggested the matter would have to be settled through a civil lawsuit.

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