Night flying deadly for Flamingos

Winged visitors crash into cables as they fly migration routes in dark

For some winged visitors a journey of over 2,000 km from Siberia comes to a deadly end just when they swoop in to land in the shallow waters of Kutch. Electric wires char their feathers and even result in death. This phenomenon has been documented in a study ‘Flamingo mortality due to collision with high tension electric wires in Gujarat by Anika Tere, now with MS University and B M Parasarya of Agriculture University Anand. The study published in the last week of November2011, revealed that the flamingoes who are known to fly at night and in low light collide with the near invisible overhead wires because of the negligible reaction time to make evasive maneuvers. The study also concluded that freshly dead flamingos were found in the morning hours suggesting that these overhead wires are not visible at night and in the dark hours of late evenings or early morning. The study also points out that along the international border, the presence of the electrified barbed wire fence and the electricity lines powering the fence as well as villages on the frontiers make formidable obstructions to the birds. The study takes note of a soldier’s narration of how flamingos get trapped in the electric fence on the international border. The study further reveals that compared to the large population of flamingos and other factors causing mortality the mortality caused by collision with high tension wires is low. The incidences of collision with utility structures in these parts of Gujarat have remained unnoticed. Flamingos visiting the Rann of Kutch during their breeding season are exposed to such wires only for a short period of the year however, at other feeding sites such as salt pans and the sewage ponds of urban areas like Bhavnagar and Jamnagar they continuously face the risk of collision as they spend more time there. Courtesy:- Times Of India.