FCC, FAA Recognized for Cutting Migratory Bird Deaths
Working with the Federal Aviation Administration, the FCC made considerable progress on curbing migratory bird deaths through the transition from steady-burning lights on communications towers to flashing lights, FCC biologist Joelle Gehring said Friday in a blog post. The FCC…
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and FAA jointly won the Presidential Migratory Bird Stewardship Award recognizing the importance of that work, Gehring said. "Communications towers … serve as deadly roadblocks on the paths of birds as they travel,” she wrote. Current research suggests some 7 million birds collide with towers in North America every year during their spring and fall migrations, she said. A documented 239 species of birds have collided with towers, resulting in their deaths, she said. “For the past six years, the FCC partnered with the FAA to protect migratory birds and to address this problem and revise the standards used for lighting communications towers and transition from steady-burning tower lights to flashing tower lights,” Gehring said. “The publication of revised lighting rules last year marked the culmination of a multi-year effort to significantly reduce mortality rates of migratory birds resulting from collisions with communications towers.”