This article was originally featured Field and stream
As another wildfire erupts around the world, researchers have found that birds have zeroed in on some of the fires. According to a recent study, a bird in an electric line can catch itself in an electric field, explode in a flame, and then fall into dry grass and start a fire.
Mankind’s causes are mostly wildfires, and many fires start naturally with lightning. Electric birds are not the main source, but it can be said that they cause more wildfires than anyone can imagine. During a four-year study, researchers identified birds as the cause of 44 fires.
Taylor Barnes, ADM International Biologist, Fort Collins, Colorado, Environmental Engineering and Consumer, has analyzed the causes of wildfires in the United States from 2014 to 2018. – Cause, combining keywords and debugging unrelated to electrical grid. “Pontiac Firebird has come a long way,” Barnes told the magazine. Science.
But after the sudden attacks were cleared, the search led to 44 fires due to birds. Barnes and his entourage were found at the scene of a fire or a carcass of a bird identified as a firefighter or detective. Most of the fires were small fires, and Idaho’s massive 265,000-acre 2015 Soda Fire, Barnes and EDM were among those identified as wildfires.
Birds can be electrocuted and burn if they touch two wires at the same time without knowing it, even though they are constantly sitting on wires. Eagles, hawks, and other large-winged predators are particularly prone to fire, especially those that can touch two ropes at once.
Extreme bird flu is found in the distance between southern Oregon and northern Mexico, between Sierra Nevada and the Pacific. The region has mild, wet winters, dry summers and frequent droughts. Plants germinate all winter, then dry in the summer, providing plenty of fuel during a fire.
Anthony Margalida, a conservation biologist at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, did not take part in ADM research but studied the effects of wildfires on birds and other animals in Spain. Spain, like the western United States, has a temperate climate. Magalida advises utilities in such regions around the world to protect all electrical wires, install poles to prevent birds from settling, and shut down transformers. Magalida believes the cost will be right. To speak Science“The costs of litigation, and the loss of lives, are small compared to the cost of infrastructure,” she said.