GIBBON, Neb. (AP) - Sandhill cranes making their annual mid-migration stop in the Central Platte Valley during the next two months will see things in a new light, at least the ones flying to and from overnight river roosts at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary southwest of Gibbon.
As the cranes continued to lounge in warmer weather areas such as the south Texas Gulf Coast, Dawson Public Power District linemen braved below-zero windchills Tuesday to install new Avian Collision Avoidance Systems for two power lines that cross the main channel of the Platte River.
The technology involves two light boxes on a power pole crossarm, powered by solar panels lower on the pole. The Kearney Hub reports the boxes emit UV-A light down the power lines, making them more visible to the cranes.
“There are two big lines crossing the river here at Rowe Sanctuary,” said Director Bill Taddicken, one west of the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center and one to the east. “They can be deadly to cranes.”
The technology comes from EDM International Inc., based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Its developer, EDM environmental scientist James Dwyer, supervised Tuesday’s installation.
The goal is to prevent hundreds of sandhill cranes, endangered whooping cranes and other birds from being hurt or killed from collisions with the power lines.
Taddicken said previous measures have proved to be about 50% effective. That includes “fireflies,” the 3-inch-by-5-inch white cards with neon orange and yellow squares in the center that are clipped to power lines around Rowe Sanctuary.
Two years ago, there was a prototype test of the UV light system at Rowe that showed an effective rate of 90% or higher, Taddicken said, so the new system on the two power lines will be studied this migration season to see if that earlier outcome can be confirmed.
Study participants will include Rowe Sanctuary and Crane Trust staff members, plus volunteers.
“Participants will go out about an hour before sundown. We have night vision optics. They’ll be looking at the (power) lines until about 1 a.m.,” he said.
They’ll watch for any collisions and how far away cranes were from the power lines when they flare to prepare to land. “They’ll be documenting all different aspects of behavior around the power line,” Taddicken said.
The UV-A lights will be on overnight, but turn off in the daytime.
“It’s not super noticeable by humans. You can see it, but it kind of shows as purplish light if you’re looking right at the device,” Taddicken said. “The cranes will see in the upper UV levels, so they’re seeing much more brightly than we are.”
When asked if the 2021 crane season study will provide enough information to determine if the new collision avoidance equipment makes a difference, he replied, “I think we can probably make a conclusion from that.”
He added that the plan is to write a paper with the results.
Taddicken said the cost is $15,000-$17,000 per device, with the funds coming from a partnership of Rowe Sanctuary donors, DPPD and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The new systems will be maintained for as long as they last.
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