Coming back from Peralvillo last break I saw at the side of the road a pylon with a dead strok on it. There is a nest on a tree stump a few metres away from the pylon and what was probably it’s mate was looking somewhat forlorn on another tree not far from that. It’s particularly sad as storks mate for life and thus the mate will have to bring the chicks up alone, if they have any yet. This also follows on from a friends blog, unpaseomanchego that reported the death of three otters in Peralvillo a few months ago. I suppose you have more loss of life where there is more…
Many parts of Spain have placed wind operated deterrents that are similar to an anemometer for measuring wind so that the storks don’t land there, however even these won’t always be spinning. Other methods are large spikes so they can’t land.
Tens of thousands of birds die in this way each year, particularly raptors and other large birds such as storks as they have more chance of connecting between the wire and pylon.
According to the people at Sibley Guides website millions are killed each year for various reasons as this chart from their site shows. The numbers came as a shock to me due to the staggering quantity of deaths. It’s bird genocide on a grand scale. It should be noted though, as they mention, that it is habitat destruction that is still the big killer.
Data from various sources showing bird deaths by category in the United States each year.
