Darn Powerlines

[ace in the hole]

As the birds returned from a toss today I noticed one of them limping. When I checked it, sure enough another bird had hit a wire. I have found several birds over the last few weeks that have missing feathers on their breasts and damage from hitting wires. For me the powerlines are proving to be harder on my birds than hawks. I am begining to think a lot of the birds I am missing from training tosses may be due to them hitting wires!!!

I am very carefull when releasing them to stay away from the wires, but they must fly low enough on their way home to hit the wires.

I have been releasing them in groups of 20 + birds at a time. Do you think if I released them in smaller groups they would be able to avoid the wires better. I know sometimes it is the birds in the back of the flock that hit the wire as the ones in front of it dodges them.

I have done everything else I can do to stop it. I just had a long talk with them telling them they need to fly higher!!!!! But I noticed some of them weren't listening.

Ace

[Grim]

I have 3 wires right above my loft so to speak. About 10 feet from the loft. I have young birds almost collide with them on their first flights. Luckily they miss or slow down enough to where they don't harm themselves. The experienced birds stay high above them or dive between the sets. To be honest I don't think there is much you can do but let them learn on their own. I have one bird that limps and has been limping for as long as I can remember I wonder if it is from a wire?

On the tosses I have done I notice my birds fly far above any wires and trees and only come in low as they approach home. There are a few release spots where I can practically follow them home.

[Trees Gray]

Make sure they are getting enough beta carotene, which they can get from the real yellow to orange colored corn and from carrots. It might sound funny, but it can make a difference in their sight.

Be sure to apply aloe vera to any raw area of skin and make sure injuries are tended to.

[Georgina]

This thread has just reminded me of something I once saw... There is a falconry centre not far from where I live and when I was at school, we went on a trip to watch the displays. The falconer guy bought out this bird of prey (I don't remember what it was) called Brad and sent him off to fly. This bird went and landed on the power cable at the side of the centre and... OMG... there was a horrid sizzling noise, and a load of smoke, and then poor Brad fell to the floor behind the wall. It was quite a shock for a large group of school kids. The falconer hopped over the wall and came back and told us the bird had flown off. None of us saw it fly off though. I think the poor thing got fried.

There are a few phone lines around my house but luckily all the power cables here run under ground otherwise I think I'd be a bit reluctant to let my birds out after seeing that.

[re lee]

If you think power lines are bad Then you will think cell towers are worse. Cell towers have about 6 to 10 cables going from the top of the tower down to the ground. this is at all corners. Like a spider web. If the birds fly into them several will get hit at a time As they are very hard to dodge. And the cables beinghard to see are a trap. Matter of fact thousands of birds each year are killed by the cables on cwell towers. Plus more towers go up each day. You might not see one then a week later boom a cell tower is in the lione of flight. Some place may have 2 to 3 towers in a mile distance.

[ace in the hole]

I have a ham radio nut less than a quarter mile from me. His huge CB tower is set up the same. With wires comming down all over to suport the tower. It is like a pigeon death trap down there.

Ace

[Avion]

Careful about those nuts, some might be listening.

George KG4ZDT

[ace in the hole]

I was not saying they are all nuts! Just that I know this guy, and he is one. Thats all.

[hillfamilyloft]

Just found out I lost a young bird in ABQ from a wire. I would try smaller groups of birds. I have found that two things contribute to wire hits. Large groups and the suns position in the sky. When the sun is on the horizon, which is mainly the times our birds are up, the birds have harder times with the wires. Warren may have some insight on the wire issue. He has plenty above his loft. I also have a friend in Albuquerque that has a spider web of wires. He put his young birds loft on the roof where the birds fly above the wires.


Randy

[Happy]

Ace, Power Lines, or any type of Wire Lines, Tower Lines, even Barb Wire Fences when flying low, but Power Lines #1 kill more Racing Pigeons than any other thing on training & Racing. With Tail Winds there is much larger loss's to them. Happy

[ace in the hole]

Again Happy you write like a man that not only cares, but knows what he is talking about.

I now beleive that there are more birds lost to wires than anything else. I had one bird come in yesterday with both feet damaged. Today one came in with damage to one leg. Also today I took posession of a Canadian bird that looks like it has hit a wire. On monday I had what is called a night flight!
Something had spooked the birds in the loft and when I let them out for an evening flight they just never came down. They flew untill it was dusk and then over 40 of them flew off into the dark. Three of them never made it back. It is hard to see the wires in the dark!!!!!


ACE

[ohiogsp]

I have had 2 night flights, and one was totally my fault. My trap is kind of hard to describe but it has a large door and in that door 2 small doors. There is 2 2x4's holding the large door when it is down and then when the little doors are open there is the 2 doors and 2 2x4's that the birds land on to go into the loft. Of course they can't get in when they are on the 2x4, so I thought I would paint the small doors so they could tell the diffence easily. This was a horriable idea. The birds would not touch the doors for 2 days and I lost close to 10 birds. I have also had 6 birds that I know of that hit wires on traing tosses. 5 of them had broken legs and most had the feathers scraped from their chest. I have had only one killed from a hawk. So I would say I have way worst luck with wires than hawks in this loft but I have other lofts at different location and the hawks are way worst than wires. Sometimes I feel I just can't win.