In the Great Basin of the western U.S., power poles and power lines are often the tallest landscape features available to birds for perching and nesting. However, these human-made structures can also come with risks to birds.  

“Power-line collisions and electrocutions are well documented causes of bird deaths worldwide, but there are many other risks to birds that live near humans. An accurate diagnosis is essential for effective wildlife management,” said Eve Thomason, lead author and a recent graduate of the Raptor Biology MS program and now a Research Associate in the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University. “Knowing if a bird died from electrocution, fell from a nest, was shot, or even exposed to poison, is critical to guiding conservation decision-making.” 

The goal of the study was to test the common assumption that electrocution is the greatest threat to birds along power lines. Trained observers repeatedly walked or drove along 122 miles of power lines in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Oregon and collected a total of 410 dead birds. To understand cause of death, each bir