Switching Tower Lights Could Save Birds

Emily Sohn, Discovery News

April 15, 2009 -- Millions of birds die every year from nighttime collisions with communication towers. But there may be a simple way to save tons of avian lives -- without tearing down towers or sacrificing airplane safety.

All we have to do, a new study suggests, is change some light bulbs so that steady lights become blinking lights.

"The potential is that all the communication towers in the world could potentially be changed to be better," said Terry Rich, director of Partners in Flight, a bird conservation group, in Boise, Idaho. He was not involved with the new study. "That would save millions and millions of birds," Rich said. "It's hugely important. It's hard to overemphasize what the potential is."

An estimated 4 or 5 million birds die each year in the United States from flying into communications towers, said Joelle Gehring, lead author of the new study, though some estimates range as high as 50 million birds a year. Migratory songbirds are the most common victims of tower collisions. And most run-ins happen at night, which is when these birds tend to travel.