Tdliche Lichtfallen fr Vgel Deadly lighttraps for birds - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Title: Tdliche Lichtfallen fr Vgel Deadly lighttraps for birds
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Tödliche Lichtfallen für VögelDeadly
light-traps for birds
- Gerald Pfiffinger
- BirdLife Austria
- August, 2008
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my relationship to a dark sky
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Topics
- BirdLife International
- Birds Migration
- Light pollution and birds
- The role of BirdLife?
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- partners in more than 100 countries
- more than 2.5 million members
- 10 million supporters
- 2,500 nature reserves in 25 countries
- more than 5,000 employees
- International Programm (4 Pillars) ... done
by every BirdLife Partner
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1) Saving Species
- Prevent extinctions
- Improve the status of Globally Threatened Birds
- Keep common birds common
190 species on the brink of extinction
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10,000 global IBAs Identify and protect the most
important sites for birds
2) Protecting Sites
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3) Conserving Habitats
- Maintain, manage and restore habitats for birds
- Agriculture land
- Woodland
- Wetlands
- Human settlement areas (villages/cities)
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4) Empowering People
- Mobilise people who care for birds and their
natural environment - Awareness raising
- Campaigns
- Excursions
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Birds migration Why?
- A lack of food
- insects in winter
- snow/ice covering the food (mice, fisch, plants,
) - The temperature is not the reason!
- 10,000 bird species worldwide, 50 migrate
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Long distance migratory birds
- Breeding in Europe
- Wintering in Africa
- 10,000 km a distance
- Time of departure is driven by genetic instinct
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Short distance migratory birds
- Breeding in Europe
- Wintering in the Mediterranean
- 2,000 km a distance
- Time of departure is driven also by the weather
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Migration at daylight
- many short distance migratory birds
- big birds that usethermal
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Migration at night
- most long distance migratory song-birds
- waders
- ducks, gooses
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How do birds orientate
- magnetic compass
- stars (and the sun)
- visual
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Why do birds migrate at night?
- To save
- time
- energy
- water
- Less predators
- Stars to orientate
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Light attractsbirds
- natural light
- moon
- stars
- Under bad seeing-conditions (low clouds, fog)
- birds follow the moon to get out
- (theory)
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Light at human structures
- low clouds/fog light
- ? illuminated area (like the moon?)
- attracts birds
- circling behavior in the illuminated area
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birds collidate
- towers, light houses
- fires, oil-flares
- Windfarms
- ceilometer
or get exhausted (predators)
- city-light
- sky-beamer
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Collisions on towers
- 38-year study, 305 m Television tower ? 121,560
birds of 123 species killed (Kemper 1996) - 29-year study, television tower in Florida ?
44,007 birds of 186 species killed (Crawford and
Engstrom 2001) - Most towers are never visited to find dead birds!
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Meta-analyses of studies killed birds at
towers (Longcore, 2008)
- the mortality increases with the tower hight
- birds are much more likely to collidate with guy
wires than with the tower itself - white lite is more attractive than red light
- flashing lights do not attract so many birds
(Evans, 2007) - The topography can influence the mortality (along
ridgelines or in passes)
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Collisions
- Light tower in Sulina, 1910 4,000 birds killed
in one night (Creutz, 1987) - Oil-platform, North Sea, 2,500 birds killed in
one night (Müller 1981) - military airport, 50,000 birds killed in one
night, ceilometer (Johnston, 1957)
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Other aspects
- Birds in cities startbreeding earlier in the
year, lower breeding-sucess (Schmidt, 1983)
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The role of BirdLife?
- Cooperations with astronomic organizations
- Collect data on light pollution and birds
- Awareness raising (Flyway campagne)
- Lobbying for a dark sky
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Good birding and clear skies!
Thank you for your attention!
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