Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration

Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration

This paper is primarily an analysis of a sample of migrant birds killed in the autumn of 1954 by striking a television tower one mile west of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. Secondarily, some aspects of migration involved in studies of this kind are discussed and historical background is presented. Considerable interest has been occasioned in recent years in the eastern United States by large-scale accidents to night-migrating birds. Most accidents have occurred in the autumn. The widespread adoption by airports of an instrument called the ceilometer, which measures the height of cloud ceilings by reflecting from them a high-powered beam of light, has proved under certain conditions to be catastrophic to night-flying birds. Among the recent reports of such accidents are those of Spofford (1949) and Laskey (1951) for Nashville, Tennessee, Howell and Tanner (1951) for Knoxville, Tennessee, and Lovell (1952) for Louisville, Kentucky. Recently Howell, Laskey, and Tanner (1954) reviewed ceilometer "tragedies" without being able to determine the exact reason for their lethal effectiveness. Less publicized so far have been mass collisions of birds with another class of obstacles, tall radio and television towers. These slender towers, usually 500 to 1000 feet tall, are increasing rapidly in numbers and there is reason to suppose that they will take a correspondingly larger toll of bird life. Notice has long been given by ornithologists to mass destruction of birds by more conventional solid obstructions to passage, and newspapers occasionally mention birds killed at such well-known points as the Washington Monument and the Empire State Building. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 52382
Author: Mengel, Robert Morrow
Release Date: Jun 20, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Tordoff, Harrison Bruce, 1923-