Electrocution of Buzzards in China (1 Viewer)

From the Sichuan thread in the China section - http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=149725&page=25

tibetbird said:

Hello China bird friends!
I was at lake Namtsho/ Damshung/ Tibet in early Nov. and I found lots of electrocuted buzzards. Some birds had their feet/ legs burned away.

The nomads there got electricity to their winter houses recently and they do not live in villages but quite isolated and scattered.
So there is plenty of new electricity cables everywhere.
It seems that the photographed electricity pole marks a bend and that there is an additional grounding cable ... can this be the problem?

I know these things happen also in the West ... but it was really many and Namtsho is a Natural Reserve (they charge 120 Yuan entry!!!)
Should this happen here?
Is this common in China?
Can there something be done?
Thanks,
David

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I've heard of larger birds flying into the power lines and dying but being electrocuted? Shouldn't be possible unless they have one foot on the line and one on a grounding wire and/or a pole. Strange.

Dong Bei said:

I've heard of larger birds flying into the power lines and dying but being electrocuted? Shouldn't be possible unless they have one foot on the line and one on a grounding wire and/or a pole. Strange.

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Here in Portugal, all the SPA's that hold raptors, storks or bustards now have adapted power pylons to prevent birds being electrocuted - unfortunately a common problem. The Birdlife partner here, SPEA ran an extensive investigation in Portugal financed by the electric company. Measures have included metal prongs and/or wind veins on the pylons to prevent problems with birds. The power lines themselves have also been kitted out with various devices to help the birds see them. Wing stretching is a common cause of electrocution with large birds.

PS: Obviously Great and Little Bustards don't perch on pylons but power line collisions have been a major problem

Dong Bei said:

I've heard of larger birds flying into the power lines and dying but being electrocuted? Shouldn't be possible unless they have one foot on the line and one on a grounding wire and/or a pole. Strange.

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I saw many dead raptors in Qinghai too. Mainly upland buzzards and sakers. The poles used in China for electricity distribution are usually made of reinforced concrete and the crossarm carrying the cables typically consists of an angle iron bar bolted to the pole. Consequently any bird that stands on the cross beam and touches one wire is earthed - and electrocuted.

The medium-voltage electricity distribution lines are the killers.

These Chinese style poles kill many thousands of raptors in Asia and Africa every year. It is a massive conservation issue and a growing problem as many countries use Chinese infrastructure to develop their electricity network.

I have been told that there is little chance of getting the design changed because China has a policy of standardizing its electricity distribution equupment. It is bad news that this standard Chinese equipment is very efficient at killing birds.

andrew

So to make sure we're talking about the same thing, the birds would only be dead (electrocuted) below the pole then, and not say half-way between poles, right? Is a single line electrocution still possible, or only pole/line arcing?

Andrew Dixon said:

I saw many dead raptors in Qinghai too. Mainly upland buzzards and sakers. The poles used in China for electricity distribution are usually made of reinforced concrete and the crossarm carrying the cables typically consists of an angle iron bar bolted to the pole. Consequently any bird that stands on the cross beam and touches one wire is earthed - and electrocuted.

The medium-voltage electricity distribution lines are the killers.

These Chinese style poles kill many thousands of raptors in Asia and Africa every year. It is a massive conservation issue and a growing problem as many countries use Chinese infrastructure to develop their electricity network.

I have been told that there is little chance of getting the design changed because China has a policy of standardizing its electricity distribution equupment. It is bad news that this standard Chinese equipment is very efficient at killing birds.

andrew

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As if raptors aren't facing enough hazards as it is:-C

PS: Are the Chinese even aware of this problem or have any mitigation measures being looked at such as putting birds off perching on the cross beam??

Wish not to divert thread or bang my own drum.Few years back there was a major initative here regarding electrified fencing used by livestock operations.Plastic insulators used were red and presented a major hazard to feeding humingbirds.Approach was on several fronts.Thousands of volunteers,which I was one of,armed with black paint,talked with property owners,explained the problem and the remedy.Property owners were overwhelmingly receptive to mitigation.Manufactuers were also asked on a more organized basis to change the color of insulators,they too responded very well to the situation.Innumerable birds are still lost yearly here in the U.S. when they "cross phase" with conductors of a polyphase distribution system.In most instances utilities will sleeve ungrounded conductors where threatend and protected birds are in a particular area,beyond that its still a big problem.Obviously lethal hazards of this nature altogether different than situation with hummingbirds.Since american public does much to
subsidize chinese infrastructure buying their goods,perhaps we here in the U.S. have a decision to make.

It's certainly not just a Chinese-related problem; almost every country has had, or still does have, similar issues; some are better equipped (or under more public/scientific pressure) to reduce the fatalities. There's a good recent discussion about this problem in Spain at the foot of this page, in the Similar Threads links, http://europeanraptors.org/interviews/interview_raptors_and_powerlines_spain_pascual_lopez.html

For example, our results showed that pin-type poles in the natural habitat accounted for 26.3% of the mortality of Spanish Imperial eagles, but only 6.7% of poles in natural habitat are of this type. One of our main recommendations in solving the electrocution problem is to concentrate on the most dangerous pole designs.

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Electrocution alters the distribution and density of a top predator, the eagle owl Bubo bubo (Northern Italy but incorporating other recent European studies)

Review of published estimates of mortality by electrocution

Electrocution was the greatest cause of mortality in 68% of the 25 published studies and accounted, on average, for 38·2 ± 3·8% of the reported deaths (range 9·7–75·0%). The reported percentage mortality by electrocution had increased over the past three decades

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Safer powerlines for Hungary's birds

Electricity pylons annually account for 95% of human-induced White Stork Ciconia ciconia mortality in Hungary, and it is estimated that every year one in seven pylons kills a bird and one in eighteen kills a raptor

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Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (US)

Suggested Practices advocates the following measures to curtail raptor electrocutions on distribution pole top structures:
(A) A minimum of 60 inch horizontal and 12 inch vertical separation of conductors;

(B) The use of covered/insulated coverings over bare conductors at structures;

(C) The construction of perches or perch guards; or,

(D) The use of armless construction or undergrounding lines when the above measures are not feasible.

Suggested Practices states that "95 percent of all eagle electrocutions could be eliminated by correcting 2 percent of all the poles". Of particular concern are "preferred poles," which are poles frequently used by eagles as perches for hunting. These poles, more than any others, need to be identified and modified to be made raptor safe.

(from the watermarked document linked from the foot of the above page)

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There are probably similar papers for any country you want to run a search for.



On paper, only the most dangerous (5-10%?) of pylons/poles would need to be identified and corrected to give a massive reduction in bird mortality.

In China, I suspect that this problem will get worse before it gets better.

Wonderful post Andrew,very nicely done.I work in the industry,is something encountered often.Wont go into what Ive seen from time to time.It breaks my heart to see it,as Im sure it would anyone.Another lethal hazard associated with distribution net's are that of collisions with suspended cable.
Interesting statistic quoted above that mentions localized hazards that relate to bald eagles here in U.S..Simply put,dont have to modify every pole to minimize the hazard.In the same fashion,flight corridors can be identified and appliances added that aid greatly in reducing collisions.Pic's below are of
diverter(s) that were placed on part of grid in and around riverlands migratory bird sanctuary,West Alton,Mo.USA. Primarily for trumpeter swans that winter in the area,warn many other types of birds also.Work was done in 2010 so there is only one season's data,preliminary indications are excellent.
Grid is owned by Ameren Elec. who worked in conjuntion with US dept of interiour,army corps of engineers,the trumpeter swan society,members of IBEW,and many others.All,divergent interest,converging on a common goal.
Bill
left to right...
1...Diverter
2...manner mounted
3...flight of trumpeters,"taking the high road"

Good info BIll, thanks. We have large orange diverters where towers cross the Tennessee river just north of Guntersville (old Monsanto plant). The lines have been de-energized for decades now but no one will take them down. Any guess why TVA would want to keep unused lines up for so long, especially crossing a river?

lashinala said:

Good info BIll, thanks. We have large orange diverters where towers cross the Tennessee river just north of Guntersville (old Monsanto plant). The lines have been de-energized for decades now but no one will take them down. Any guess why TVA would want to keep unused lines up for so long, especially crossing a river?

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The previous posts have highlighted two problems with overhead powerlines - collisions with the wires and electrocution (mainly on medium voltage distribution lines). Though there are some potential benefits for raptors of overhead powerlines too - increase in potential nesting sites in areas with few trees/cliffs.

I agree with previous posts that best solution is to bury medium voltage power cables. But this is expensive and is not likley to be done soon.

Next best option is to use raptor safe designs for distribution power poles. Should be simple but the issue hasn't been addressed by the main manufacturers of electricity distribution equipment (which nowadays is the mainly the Chinese and their 'standardized' design).

So we need to convince people who put-in power line infrastructure to choose safe designs and not the cheapest designs (eg governments, local authorities, big industrial plants, mining companies etc..). This is a matter of awareness raising - especially for the people who actually make these purchasing decisions. But cost is also important.

Finally, we are left with doing something about the existing killer lines. This requires replacement (expensive) or retro-fittng insulation (cheaper but not necessarily very effective or long-lasting). This mitigation needs to be paid for by somebody and few electricity companies in Asia and Africa are going to pay for this to be done. Especially when there is little information on the maintenance/replacement cost for the insulation.

Covered insulation is the best at reducing electrocution risk (such as cap covers on the insulators and tubing on the wire). But there are problems with this too - outages can be caused by equipment breakdown, or the build up of dust on disc insulators that are covered by caps. So the mitigation can potentially also result in power outages.

Lots of work has been done across the world on the issue but electricity line engineers in Asia and Africa are still largely unaware of the problem of raptor electrocution. But the big question remains - who pays for fixing this problem?

cheers
Andrew

Thanks very much for the continued input. I thought this might generate some interest and useful information here. I am currently trying to get someone from the China Daily I know who writes on environmental issues who is also keen on birds to look at this so please keep it going.

In the UK it is the transformer boxes that seem to cause most problems for both wild and captive raptors. The power companies are alleged to consider it more cost-effective to pay compensation for any hawk killed rather than have a blanket policy to earth every box.

lashinala said:

Good info BIll, thanks. We have large orange diverters where towers cross the Tennessee river just north of Guntersville (old Monsanto plant). The lines have been de-energized for decades now but no one will take them down. Any guess why TVA would want to keep unused lines up for so long, especially crossing a river?

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Only speculation on my part Lashinala,safety considerations to personel,enviromental damage as a result of removal,possible confict to commerical river traffic,and perhaps as a backup in the event of a major catastrophe amoung many things in my mind.Utilities also project future demand,could play a role in that data by serving to "help" in an upgrade if dictated by future increase.Already have a "bridge over river" so to speak,makes sense to utilize as much of existing infrastructre as possible.Have to consider the easement also,huge legal implications involved there.Just as one has to consider the overall impact of relocating entirely.Tremendously complicated subject,far beyond the scope of my capabilties to try and sort out.
Believe orange "balls" designed and installed for aircraft,birds see them too though.Works out great for all.
Hope I didnt confuse you too much.
Bill

Andrew Dixon said:

Lots of work has been done across the world on the issue but electricity line engineers in Asia and Africa are still largely unaware of the problem of raptor electrocution. But the big question remains - who pays for fixing this problem?

cheers
Andrew

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That's a timely reference to Africa- one factor in the catastrophic decline of the migratory Egyptian Vulture population in the Balkans is thought to be a particular set of powerlines on the Red Sea coast at Port Sudan. Some discussion here for anyone gathering together references.

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/01/the-egyptian-vulture-what’s-going-on-in-africa/

PS- for Lammergeier fans, worth scrolling down to the last pic on this link..

http://bspb.org/show2.php?id=1408&menu_id=33

Just something heard by word of mouth that OP's subject was in general terms, discussed in sub-committee.
Maybe someone else with more info can follow up with specific info that relates to construction techniques of supports and field installation of same.


http://www.rona.unep.org/documents/news/IPBES-press%20release%20final.pdf

Apparently this can happen. Here is one case from Texas:

http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/122937645

http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/122937646


All the best,

Mark

Dong Bei said:

I've heard of larger birds flying into the power lines and dying but being electrocuted? Shouldn't be possible unless they have one foot on the line and one on a grounding wire and/or a pole. Strange.

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Mark B Bartosik said:

Apparently this can happen. Here is one case from Texas:

http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/122937645

http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/122937646


All the best,

Mark

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Hi Mark, Something that significantly impacts larger birds throughout the world. Our problem here as well as where Dong Bei lives. With Polyphase alternating current distribution systems, horizontally adjacent ungrounded current carrying conductors are the hazard. Many birds wingspan is large enough to make contact with 2 of those conductors, which is usually fatal. Imagine typical pole with T-shaped crossarm carrying conducts and hazard can be visualized.

One remedy are insulating sleeves that are retrofit to existing installations in areas prone to enounters. Fairly effective but can lead to electrical issues within net and does require monitoring and periodic maintenence. Not foolproof and someone has to pay for.

Designs that place current carrying conductors vertically are best to prevent electrocution risk. Increases collision hazards significantly so some means of warning and careful placement is required.

Obviously direct burial eliminates hazzard. Dont expect to happen. Technical issues and cost are virtually insurmountable.