Biological Services Program FWSIOBS-78/58 July 1978 Avian Mortality at -Man-made Structures: . An Annotated Bibliography I '8/58 1nd Wildlife Service U.S. Department of the Interior !Xl&!ru~& c ~00&~©@ Susitna Joint Venture Document Number ~~OL{ · Please Return To DOGUMENT CONTROL ·).' f. t ~ -~ I I ~ .. - ; ... .. J . ~ -. ~ L;.;.,, .. ;L~i~.':-~~- ··-·~. .-.;:··-. -~ .... _-,.- ...... -. ..;.~;. •.:. < • The Biological Services Program was .established·within:the·U.S.' -Fish ·and Wildlife Seryke, to supply·scientific inforrnat·i'bn and·'meth-· odologies on key"'environmental issues which impact fish ahd w·ildlife resources and their supporting ecosystems. The mission of the Program is as follows: 1. To strengthen the Fish and Wildli.fe Service in its role as a primary sours;e .of information on national fish and wildlife resoilr<;'es;; ·'parj;.icuJ ar-ly in respect to environmenta 1 impact assessment. ' . ·- 2. To gather, analyze, and present information that \'Jill aid decision makers in the identification and resolution of problems associated with major land and water use changes. 3. To provide better ecological information and evaluation for Department of the Interior development programs, such as those relating to energy development. Information developed by the Biological Services Program is in­ tended for use in the planning and decision making process to prevent or minimize the impact of development on fish and wildlife. Biological Services research activities and technical assistance services are based on an analysis of the issues, the decision makers involved and their information needs, and an evaluation of the state of the art to identify information gaps and determine priorities. This is a strategy to assure that the products produced and disseminated will be timely and useful. Biological Services projects have been initiated in the following areas: Coal extraction and conversion Power plants Geothermal, mineral~ and oil shale development Water resource analysis, including stream alterations and western water allocation Coastal ecosystems and Outer Continental Shelf development Systems and inventory, including National Wetlands Inventory, habitat classification and analysis, and information transfer The Program consists of the Office of Biological Services in Wash­ ington, D.C., which is responsible for overall planning and management; National Teams which provide the Program's central scientific and tech­ nical expertise and who arrange for contracting Biological Services studies with States, universities, consulting firms, and others; Regional staff who provide a link to problems at the operating level; and staff at certain Fish and Wildlife Service research facilities who conduct in­ house research studies. ·- .. _tl ~f~rence 43- The citation should _read "Bird-Banding 49(2):182-184." ~~ference 121 -The author's n~~ should be •Brooke, M. de L.". ~ferenc~ 130 - !ns~rt the word nthe" between "on• and •autu1lln" in the titis. ~~fe~nce 333- Srac~ets should enclose the phrase •;n Finnish, English s~~ry", followed ~ a period. ~~f~renc~ 455 - Add 0 FUS/OBS-78/48" to the citat1on. f~erence 425 ~ Delete ~utah State Un1v.~ Log:n. 9 and insert •touisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge.• ~f~ren~~ 5&1 - The citation should read "tJHdf~l Trust Arm. Rep. lS:74-84.n Pefe-rnnce 753 - f.dc "P.~/OGS-78/48" tc the citation. ~e~ence 8£iG- The title ·should read "The migr~tions of bi~s.• ~ferencc 827 - In the title, .:wateriot<tl" should be "~ter fo-.11•. : SeptEmber. _1978 I f . I I --·· :::,- -~-~ -' - ,._ · ~· - -· .. -- ... .. -· ...•. .. .. .. l 1. iiutll<or\s) . :. Pedurmin,; Ors~r.i:t•rion Repr. ~;,. No. ~- ~ Hicha~i L. Avery, Paul F. Springer. f~ancy S. Dailey ~-~. P'edon:;.in~ Crg:Aclzi;~iea lia~Ae ru1d J.cl~~sa. iO. !?rej.e~:t/7u!;/~ork Unit No, ·I ~aticnal Pzy¢.er Plant Team u.s. Fish and Wildlife Service ll. C~ct/Grant No. 1451 Gre:!n Road ~----~~n f~~-·~M~;!~4?~;1~0~5~·~------------------------------~~--~~--~~~--~ U. s,.,or..:;orine Orgs.niz;uio~ Nu:~ and Aclciress l3. Typt! of Repon et Perio:l Office of Biological Services Covered U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service l Washington. D.C. 20240 14. 15. Su~!llemf!ntary Notes Thi~ bibliography contains 853 s~~rized references pertaining to bird morta~ity due to collision and electrocution at man-made structures such as ~er transmission lines, radio and TV towers, lighthouses. cooling ~wers. l:miidings, and airp-:>rt cello.T.eters. Subject, taxonomic, and geographic indexes are included. · U. Key li'ords aDJ Docuaem llna!y~is. iia. [;~sc:riptors Birds Mortality Animal navigation Animal migrations Chimneys Power transmission tow2rs Cooling tc~ers Radio to~rs Power transmission lines Buildings Windows l7b. ldutlfiera/Opea-Eoded T-rma 11c.. C:C$A Tl Field "Group 1'i.A Biological Services Program FWS/OBS-78/58 July 1978 AVIAN MORTALITY AT MAN-MADE STRUCTURES: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY by Michael L. Avery National Power Plant Team U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1451 Green Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105 Paul f. Springer Wildlife Research Field Statton U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Humboldt State University Arcata, California 95521 Nancy s. Dailey Ecological Sciences Information Center Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 Fish and Wildlife Servic~ _, -·- ~-- .. .{:.· Few aate by the Superintendent of Documents·, U.s. Government U'.s. Department'Of the Interior Printing Office, Waahington, D.C. 20402 ' TABLE OF CONTENTS .INTRODUCTION ...................•...................... ~-;. 1 .BIBLIOGRAPHY .. • .......... ~···~ ...... ,.... ................... ~ .... 7 SUBJECT INDEX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 99 TAXONOMIC INDEX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 104 GEOGRAPHIC INDEX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 107 INTRODUCTION The adverse effects of man-made structures on birds in flight has long been recognized (e;g., Cooke 1888, Kumlien 1888); however, the pro­ liferation in recent years of radio and TV towers, tall buildings, power .1 ines, cooling towers, and tall stacks constitutes an i.r:~creasing hazard to birds. Estiruates of the ..~nnual UJ.Ortality in the United States due to avian collisions with radio and TV towers range from 1 to 1.25 million (Mayfield 1967, Banks 1978), and losses due to strikes at windows and glass corridors probably exceed 80 million each year (Klem 1978). The effects of such mortality on species and populations are undetermined, but the growing public awareness of the need to respect our environment demands that proposed projects be evaluated beforehand as to the poten­ tial impacts on wildlife and their habit~ts and the means by which adverse impacts may be mitigated. To prepare a study, or to develop or assess an environmental impact statement, knowledge of related, previous work is essential. This bibliography will aid future investigators by providing a ready source of reference to past studies of bird mortality at man-made structures. This project was originally conceived in 1972 during a study of bird losses associated with a 1200-foot navigational tower (Avery et al. 1975) when it was found that numerous references pertaining to avian mortality at man-made structures existed, but for the most part were not readily available. Tl)us, a systematic search was begun to prepare a comprehensive, annotated bibliography on the subject. Then, in Sep­ tember 1977, a further search was initiated by the Ecological Sciences Information Center at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the National Power Plant Team under an inter-agency agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Energy~ The results of these two efforts have been combined in this publication. In addition, the Ecological Sciences Information Center maintains a computerized data base that includes this bibliography with extended abstracts. Specific fields available for searching include author, corporate author, sponsor, title, publication description, location (country, state, county, city, etc.), taxon, common name, family name or group (shorebirds, waterfowl, upland game birds, etc.), keywords, and subject category. This bibliography is restricted to articles directly concerned with bird losses at man-made structures. Because of the large volume of literature involved, no attempt was made to include articles on related topics such as bird navigation and orientation, avian migration patterns and behavior, flight density and altitudinal distribution, and the effects of weather on migration. Similarly, articles concerning bird collisions with aircraft and vehicles are excluded. All of these sub­ jects merit attention, but they were beyond the scope of this, project. 1 The majority of the reports include the number of individuals and species killed, with some observations of weather conditions at the time of the incident, bird behavior near the structure, or comments on the attraction of birds to lights. Other reports use data derived from casualties to analyze migration routes and timing, examine the causes of death and injury, describe species morphometry and physiology, determine subspecific composition of migrant populations, and assess the impact of scavengers and predators on study rel iabi"l ity. Avian electrocution studies, which include both electric transmission structures and electric fences, report bird casualties, examine the circumstances causing death or injury, identify problem