Bird Injuries

wildlifefriendlyfencing, wildlife friendly fencing
'When a bird flies it does not look directly ahead of itself, but instead will scan the area a distance off. In nature, obstacles such as trees are quite obvious to a flying bird, while the thin strands of a barbed wire fence are not so obvious. Owls and other birds often fly into the top strands of these types of fences and are then caught in the barbs, unable to struggle free, and so frequently dying slow, agonising deaths. The Birds of Prey Working Group is investigating various methods to make fences more visible, in particular to nocturnal birds, and this will prevent countless unnecessary deaths'. Endangered Wildlife Trust website, South Africa.

Photo: Jenny Maclean Barking Owl

Andrew Ley and Brian Tynan published a paper in Australain Field Ornithology in 2008, Birds Killed by Fences in Diamantina National Park (click on the title for a pdf of their paper) . Twenty-seven individuals of 18 bird species were recorded as casualties of collisions with fences in Diamantina National Park, western Queensland, between 1996 and 2008. Nine of the 18 species were nocturnal or mainly so. Included in their list is the record of a contemporary (September 2006) specimen of the nationally endangered Night Parrot Pezoporus occidentalis. They make the point that most wildlife casualties in fences probably go unobserved and unreported so it is difficult to assess the full extent of the problem.

Photo: Jack Shield Kookaburra		Photo: The Cairns Post Metallic Starling (see story in media section of website)

Photos: Karen Ringland. This tawny frogmouth was brought to the vet with the barbed wire still tightly twisted in skin at the back of its neck. It died 4 days later.

Photo: Helen Taylor Black-shouldered kite		Photo: Helen Taylor Barn Owl

Photo: Janet Robino Quail		Photo: Tina Ball Collared kingfisher

Photo: Karin Traub		Photo: Karin Traub Same owl with cetrigen on its injuries

Photo: Ashleigh Johnson Ibis		Photo: Ashleigh Johnson Ibis

This old photograph shows the remains of an Emu on 'Cambo Cambo' property, Moonie River district, North West New South Wales, in 1911. The associated notes state: 'death being due to one leg getting caught in the wires of a wire fence while the bird was getting through. The unfortunate bird could not get away from this grip-it died no doubt of thirst and starvation. It will be noticed that the leg resting on the ground has made a hole underneath, through the bird kicking and struggling in its efforts to escape.' Photo by Sidney Jackson, 1873-1946, courtesy of the National Library of Australia.