- A federal investigation has been launched into the plight
of up to 50 million migratory birds killed each year by mobile phone and
broadcast masts strung across the US.
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- The communications commission has a legal duty to minimise
the environmental effect of the hundreds of thousands of masts spread across
the country. At some masts located on migratory routes, thousands of birds
have been recorded as being killed in a single night.
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- The commission, which also has the duty to enable the
best available communication, is taking on the issue in an effort to manage
the expansion of masts in a way that "best preserves the country's
environmental resources".
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- The agency will work with the US fish and wildlife service
to look at why migratory birds fly into masts. There are 836 species of
birds which migrate in the US and 350 of those are recorded as being vulnerable
to being killed by the masts.
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- The commission says certain factors - such as mast height,
lighting systems, type of antenna support structure, and location - may
affect the hazards posed to migratory birds.
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- There does not appear to be systematic research or an
adequate scale to measure exactly how and to what extent, if at all, these
factors contribute to any risk to the birds.
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- The scientific team is particularly concerned about whether
lighting of various sorts and colours may attract birds, particularly at
night, in fog or bad weather. It also wants to discover if any successful
mitigation measures have been tried.
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- The issue of survival of migratory species stirs a folk
memory in the US because of the fate of the passenger pigeon. This bird
was remarkable in the 19th century for the staggering numbers which flew
at tree height, north in spring and south in autumn. Its numbers were so
great that migratory flocks were said to block out the sun.
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- Each year nets were held high to catch huge numbers for
a twice annual feast and hundreds of thousands more were shot. The harvest
seemed endless.
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- However, by the early 20th century the passenger pigeon
was extinct, partly because of the biannual slaughter. The loss of the
forests in which it nested was thought to be another factor.
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- This inquiry is part of the commission's environmental
and historic preservation action plan to avoid the mast problem affecting
historic sites, Indian land and the environment.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1027336,00.ht ml
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