Still on decline in bird species

I INC the city, most birds prefer to build their nests on the very tall antenna towers during stopovers because the height of the towers is higher than the trees, which provides them with a bird’s eye view of nearby potential feeding spots.

Because of their flight speed, especially when flying in poor visibility, birds are involved in a blind collision with antenna towers.

Another threat that has resulted in ‘towerkill’ is linked to the non-flashing light fitted at the top of cell towers to provide aviation safety for pilots flying at night.

When the weather is foggy, the indicator lights on the tower tend to refract off water in the air, which in turn creates an illumination around the tower.

This causes interference in the avian navigational system, making migratory birds to lack the ability to monitor the earth’s geomagnetic fields.

This leads to more birds passing through the relatively small illuminated area and the inevitable collision with towers and ‘guy wires’ attached to the tower.

Needless to say, environmentally sustainable and bird-friendly towers, with flashing indicator light instead of non-flashing light should be considered if we want to maintain a balanced ecosystem for the survival of these avian species.

Countries should ensure constant bird monitoring and the application of a Geographical Information System (GIS) in mapping and maintaining of all antenna towers sites which would be used to track, monitor and evaluate bird biodiversity around the locations of these towers which have become their new found home in the city.