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Do Power Lines Help Birds?

Debbie Blicher is Senior Producer of Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds.







A Lesson in Careful Tree-Cutting

When Canadian biologist Chris Fisher drove through Banff, Jasper, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks in May, he noticed that many trees were being cut down along the highways for various park projects. May is prime nesting season, so he wondered how the park service was managing not to disturb birds. After all, the Migratory Birds Convention Act prohibits killing, capturing, taking and disturbing of migratory birds or their nests from late April until mid-August. Wouldn't you be curious too?

Michael den Otter, an environmental assessment specialist with Banff, Yoho and Kootenay, confirms that safety upgrades, fence maintenance, and other infrastructure improvements are indeed requiring the cutting of trees along the highways, but he says that all the national parks are following the standards. “Most of the trees you see beside the highway were actually cut before the end of April. We try whenever possible to schedule our work so we’re not going into that bird breeding season.”

Sometimes it isn’t possible to schedule work so it doesn't interfere with nesting season, for instance in places where snow doesn't melt until quite late. In those places, there's a set of rules to follow that includes extensive nest sweeps. Biologists search for nests for three days during the week before cutting is scheduled. den Otter says, “If we find any sign of nesting birds, then that project will have to either mitigate that or it will have to be put on hold until whatever happens to be nesting there moves on.”

For example, a recent sweep found a dark-eyed junco along the Trans-Canada Highway during some tree removal in Yoho National Park. den Otter says, “We put a 100-meter buffer around that nest area and we’ll have to wait to complete that work in the fall when the bird fledges." A 100-meter buffer is higher than the standard, so it sounds like these folks are serious.

den Otter says the crews haven’t encountered many nesting birds in the areas along the highways where the work is being done. After all, it's a pretty noisy and disturbed area, not the deep, dense, old-growth forest that many birds really like. Still, dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows do prefer these edge habitats, and they are plentiful—and being allowed to do their thing while the projects wait. 

Fisher, the biologist, states that Environment Canada suggests not performing any nest sweeps in forested environments. “It’s their position that the likelihood of finding every single nest or the complexity of the habitat really makes it difficult to find all of the nests." He'd prefer that the national parks not even try to remove trees until after nesting season. 

Now Starring: No American Birds

When we birders watch films and TV shows made in America, we often say, "Wha-?" We notice that the birds onscreen in a show supposed to take place here are actually foreign birds. No, it's not because of Hollywood sloppiness. It's because of the law. 

The Washington Post explains: The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918 prohibits the possession of migratory birds for commercial purposes. This means it's illegal to keep domestic bird species as animal actors. Why? Steve Holmer, a senior policy advisor at the American Bird Conservancy, says that, before the MBTA, populations of some birds were severely harmed because they were used so often commercially. Snowy egrets, for example were decimated in the early 1900s because their plumes were used to decorate hats.

Are you surprised that native birds can't be used as actors? So were we, and so are many producers. Benay Karp, owner of Benay’s Bird and Animal Rentals in Woodland Hills, California, says producers often come to her looking to rent a native bird and leave with one that looks similar but actually isn't the genuine article. 

The good news is that egret numbers have rebounded, along with those of many other species. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been a success, and Hollywood is still abiding by it. 

The bad news is that birds are being used in film and television that aren't native to the United States. Not only is it expensive to import a non-native bird, but it also can't be pleasant for the bird. We here at Talkin' Birds are rather conservation-minded; we don't want birds from anywhere to be harmed. 

Now, how about when we hear the wrong bird in a film or TV show? Is that also because of the MBTA?

No. That really is because of Hollywood sloppiness. 


A Scandinavian Christmas Tradition for the Birds





OMG! Birding Abbreviations



UFR = Unidentified flying raptor. 



TUVU or TV = Turkey Vulture.

MODO = Mourning Dove.

RWBL = Red-Winged Blackbird. 


MTN = Much too noisy.

SGB = Squinty guy with binoculars. 

SYC = Shivering, yawning, and complaining.












For further reading, check out the study:


How Do Owls Turn Their Heads?

An interesting fact about owls: they cannot move their eyes! In order to follow the movements of their prey, they have to turn their heads. Owls can turn their heads up to 270 degrees, or three-quarters of the way around. If we did that we'd rupture blood vessels and cut off the blood supply to our brains. So how do owls do it?

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, led by medical illustrator Fabian de Kok-Mercado, M.A., found major biological adaptations in owls' bones and arteries that prevent injury when they rotate their heads. 

The team studied the heads and necks of Snowy, Barred and Great Horned Owls after they'd died from natural causes. They discovered that one of the major arteries nourishing the brain passes through bony holes in the vertebrae (neck bones). The hollow cavities are about 10 times larger across than the artery traveling through them. The researchers say that this extra space allows the artery to move when it's twisted. Twelve of the 14 vertebrae in the owl's neck were found to have this adaptation.

Among the team's other findings: small vessel connections between the carotid and vertebral arteries that allow blood to be exchanged between them. We humans don't have these connections. The researchers say they allow for uninterrupted blood flow to the brain even if one route is blocked when the neck rotates.

No word on whether your high school math teacher had any of these adaptations. Better to assume she simply had eyes in the back of her head.

Want to hear more about owls and their amazing necks? We did a Science Corner piece about it on the radio show of December 8, 2013. Click here to listen! 



Around the Web

This week, we see how birds are adapting to climate change—or not; why vehicles and birds collide so often (and so tragically); and how you can get involved in a little bit of citizen science, right from your laptop!