Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal MigrationTordoff, Harrison Bruce
Science
Studies of Birds Killed in Nocturnal Migration
Tordoff, Harrison Bruce
Birds -- Migration
GENERAL.--The few days around the end of the first week of October,
1954, were notable for a series of accidents which occurred to
migrating birds over much of eastern United States. So far as we know,
these were all associated with an extensive belt of bad weather (cold
fronts and stationary fronts) which covered much of the country during
that period, and the accidents involved ceilometers and solid
structures alike. Accidents known to us occurred as far south as
Macon, Georgia (David W. Johnston, letter: Nov. 1, 1954), as far north
as New York City, where many migrants were killed at the Empire State
Building (_New York Times_, Thursday, October 7, 1954, p. 1) and
elsewhere, and as far west as Smoky Hill Air Force Base at Salina,
Kansas (ceilometer, October 7, some birds received at the University
of Kansas). Some of the above, and incidents from a number of other
localities, were mentioned in varying detail in _Audubon Field Notes_
(vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 6, 10, 15, 17, 18, 32, February, 1955). Still
other accidents occurred at Columbia, Missouri (Richard P.
Grossenheider, verbal communication), and Topeka, Kansas (present
paper). Some probably have escaped our notice; summaries of some of
these will probably appear in ornithological journals for some time to
come. At Robins Air Force Base near Macon, Georgia, at least 50,000
birds were killed, of which about 2500, representing 54 species, were
picked up (Johnston, _loc. cit._).
ACCIDENTS AT TOPEKA, KANSAS.--At Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, all
birds were killed by collision with the newly-erected (1954)
television transmitting tower of station WIBW-TV. This tower is one
mile west of the city.
The first casualties (see Table 1 for all others) were a Sora
(_Porzana carolina_) and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (_Empidonax
flaviventris_) found on September 7. The major accidents, however,
occurred on the nights of September 24-25, September 30-October 1,
October 5-6, and October 6-7. Totals of birds picked up (probably over
95 per cent of birds killed) are given in Table 1, in which each date
given is that of the day after the kill, _i. e._, the date on which
the birds were collected.
All major kills occurred on cloudy and foggy nights associated with
frontal weather. Throughout the period a few birds struck the tower
even on fairly clear nights, and minor but appreciable "falls"
occurred on the nights of October 4-5, 7-8, and 22-23. A few birds
killed probably were overlooked for a time and found their way into
later samples. This is especially probable in the case of some birds
entered under date of October 23, as many of these were somewhat
desiccated. Weights clearly altered by desiccation or mutilation were
not recorded. Reports of these accidents have been published by Carson
(1954 a, b, and c).
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