Prague, Aug 29 (CTK) – A new web launched by the Czech Society for Ornithology provides data on places and situations that are dangerous for birds in the country and refers to bird death cases and causes based on information from volunteers, ornithologist Zbynek Janoska has told media.
Birds have been most often killed by electric wiring, glass walls and transport, the web shows.
Ornithologists say some threats are easily to remove, but people’s intentional killing of birds poses a problem.
“Information has been supplied to us by volunteers. We believe that the real number of killed birds is higher, since only few people go for a walk under electricity poles, which are a frequent cause [of birds’ death],” Janoska said.
Electric poles are mainly dangerous for birds of prey which like to sit atop them and with their wide wingspan they easily touch two wires at the same time.
To prevent this, special cases are installed on a part of the wiring or a special perch for the birds to land high above the dangerous wires.
To prevent birds’ collisions with glass walls, ornithologists densely cover the latter with stickers symbolising birds predators.
The new web presents victims of crimes targeting birds. Many of them are birds of prey which swallow a poisoned bait that was meant to kill another animal or bird species.
Ornithologists also met with more sophisticated cases of bird-targeted crime.
“We found nests of European bee-eater that someone clogged with expanding foam. The culprit has not been found,” Janoska said.
He said people can report the findings of dead of wounded birds to the Avif Internet database and thereby inform the experts about further places that need to be adjusted not to become a bird trap.
People can also report interesting observation results, concerning migratory birds or unusual bird species nesting in the Czech Republic.
