Steve Lewis
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Birds and Space Bases
Author: <ORNITH-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU> at ~internet
Date: 4/15/98 12:25 PM
Richard Hill wrote:
>Can anyone direct me to literature on, or would anyone be prepared to
>comment on, the potential impacts of space launching bases on the
>environment, in particular, birds. There is a proposal to build a space base
>on the Australian territory Christmas Island (13500 ha) which also happens
>to be an Endemic Bird Area after Stattersfield et al. 1998. A number of
>endemic seabirds and forest birds inhabit this small oceanic island. Nesting
>colonies of Great Frigatebirds, Red-footed Boobies and White-tailed
>Tropicbirds are within 2km of the proposed launch site, colonies of endemic
>Abbott's Booby within 6-7 km, and the endemic goshawk (est popsize < 100
>pairs) and endemic owl (popsize c. 550 pairs) occur in forests within 2 km
>of the proposed base.
>Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.
>
There has been a discussion going on on the European circuit about the
effect of noise and birds. It seems to have been pretty inconclusive
with examples of birds being confused and flying into phone wires etc
but being back in the same position for more the next day!
One example recently quoted (but perhaps apocryphal) related to a feral
pigeon which flew in front of the amplifiers at a rock concert and
disintegrated in mid air. I have no opinion on that except that when my
children were young and were damaging their eardrums, I used to run a
mile!
More seriously, although there is evidence that birds will avoid areas
of persistent high noise by retreating (and so their breeding area will
be smaller) e.g. away from very busy roads (Dutch studies seem to have
shown this recently), where the "hum" is on-going and all-pervading, it
seems that loud, unrepeated noises do not seem to faze them in the same
way.
I take it that a space base will not spend all its time launching
rockets? It is an expensive hobby! I do remember that I saw a
documentary on the BBC about wild-life including a fairly wide variety
of bird, not to mention alligators on the roads (and skunks at the
inlets to the airconditioning systems- pheew, yuk!) which were living
and doing well close to the launching pads at the Kennedy Space Centre
at Cape Canaveral and that, when they are launching must be one of the
noisiest places I can imagine.
I also remember a documentary (again on BBC) about some US Airforce Base
somewhere in the Pacific where (?) boobies (I think in American they
would say Goony bird?) nested and the rule was that cars had to stop for
the dozy birds which were having a siesta on the nice warm tarmac of
base's roads. I think it was allowable to leave your car and lift the
bird to one side. I suspect that there would have been more constant
noise at such a location that at a space base?
Therefore I suspect that data on disturbance is likely to be on record
in Washington. Try NASA? Try the Audubon Society?
Regards
Mike Watkins