Sharikov A.V., Ataullin R.Kh., Makarova T.V., Makarov A.V., Grinchenko O.S. ANALYSIS OF CAUSES OF BIRDS DEATH IN MOSCOW REGION // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 3. 2023. P. 70-81. | Abstract | PDF | Reference
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- Bird diverters (photo by O.S.Grinchenko)
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- Bird diverters getting installed for the first time in the “Crane Homeland” Nature Reserve (photo by O.S.Grinchenko)
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- Chief engineer A.V.Tupitsyn talking about bird diverters (photo by O.S. Grinchenko)
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- Uninsulated wires pose a danger for birds (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
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- Field material sampling (photo by A.V.Sharikov)
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- R.H. Ataullin with a bird diverter (photo by A.V.Sharikov)
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- A dead magpie with the proof of electrocution on its beak (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
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- A dead crow (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
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- A dead magpie (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
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- Material sampling under the power lines (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
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- Power lines with bird diverters (photo by R.H.Ataullin)
In Russia, many birds die due to electrocution caused by power lines. Uninsulated parts, such as wires and contacts, and grounded support posts and crossarms are easily accessible to birds. If the bird touches both the grounding element and the wire, it completes the circuit, which gives bird an electric shock, usually fatal. The distance between the wire and the corner of the grounded crossarm is 15-25 cm, which is roughly the body size of a small bird. It is less common for birds to close a circuit between wires, since the gap between the phases is much larger, but this is nonetheless dangerous for large species of birds.
Power lines are an integral part of the industrial landscape of the Central Non-Black Earth Region. In the north of the Moscow Region, where the “Crane Land” system of specially protected natural areas is located, there is a developed network of power lines with various characteristics. Before 2015-2017, when the bird diverters were installed and the bare wires were replaced with self-supporting insulated wires, the death of birds from electric shock was often there. Moreover, there are a number of negative factors that cause the death of birds, and so this article is the first one to summarize those causes.
Keywords: birds and power lines, bird diverters, self-supporting insulated wires, industrial landscape.
Acknowledgments. The authors are grateful to all their colleagues, students, masters and graduate students of the Institute of Biology and Chemistry of Moscow State Pedagogical University for their assistance in collecting the data and materials.
Funding. The article and the analysis of materials were carried out as part of the topic No. FMWZ-2022-0002 of the state assignment of the Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Research of Geo-Ecological Processes in Hydrological Systems of Land, the Formation of the Quality of Surface and Groundwater, Problems of Water Resource Management and Water Use in Conditions of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Influences”.
DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2023-3-70-81
EDN: CNWMHM