A new committee to address the threats of power grids to birds in Iran

Kolnegari, Mahmood; Moghimi, E; Basiri, Ali Akbar; Qashqaei, Ali Turk; Hazrati, Mandana

doi:10.1080/14888386.2019.1665585

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This expansion creates new potential for human-wildlife conflict impacting both people and wildlife. Iran's Birds and Power Lines Committee (IBPLC) was developed in part to help find practical mechanisms of reducing avian-caused outages (Kolnegari et al 2019).…”

Section: Study Area and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical Components Involved in Avian-Caused Outages in Iran

Kolnegari¹,

Basiri

Panter

et al. 2020

Bird Conservation International

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Summary Avian electrocutions are a global conservation problem. Power outages associated with electrocutions are problematic for electric utilities focused on delivering reliable electric power. We used contextual data, photographs, line voltage, outage type and assessments of power line components to quantify outage-causing avian electrocutions throughout each of Iran’s 31 provinces. We evaluated records of 222 avian-caused outages involving 235 electrocuted birds in 2018. Of these, 14.5% involved species of conservation concern, and a few (at least eight) sparked fires when the plumage of electrocuted birds ignited and fell into dry vegetation. Most avian-caused outages (96%) involved distribution voltages, and 91% involved phase-to-ground contacts attributable to grounded concrete pylons with grounded steel crossarms. These are the most common type of power line structure in Iran. Insulators were involved in 37% of outage-causing avian electrocutions, fused cutouts 29%, transformers 33%, and midspan collisions 1%. Given the numbers of these components in the electrical system, fused cutouts and transformers were involved in more outage-causing avian electrocutions than expected due to chance. The average body size of electrocuted birds was largest for incidents involving suspension insulators, smaller for birds electrocuted on other insulators, and smallest for electrocutions on fused cutouts and transformers. Given that most avian electrocutions do not cause outages and given the similarity across electric systems in the region, our findings likely indicate a much larger avian electrocution concern throughout the middle east. Retrofitting power line components to reduce avian contacts would reduce impacts to wildlife and improve the electrical system’s reliability, reduce costs associated with unplanned outages, and reduce risks associated power line ignitions of fires.

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Section: Study Area and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical Components Involved in Avian-Caused Outages in Iran

Kolnegari¹,

Basiri

Panter

et al. 2020

Bird Conservation International

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“…Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) are preyed upon by mantids in the Americas (Nyffeler et al, 2017 ), however, are considerably smaller than the species recorded in our observations. For example, an adult Crested Lark weighs approximately 37–55 g, compared with 3–6 g hummingbird species (Kolnegari & Hazrati, 2018 ; Nyffeler et al, 2017 ). Nestling passerines more closely resemble the weight of hummingbirds and are at risk of predation by mantids, however, adult passerines are not vulnerable to mantid predation due their increased size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mantids were identified to species‐level using Giglio‐Tos ( 1927 ) and Battiston et al ( 2010 ). Nestling birds were identified from the following: Svensson ( 2011 ); Dickinson & Christidis ( 2014 ); Kolnegari & Hazrati ( 2018 ).…”

Section: Field Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic depredation of songbird nestlings by female praying mantids (Mantodea: Mantidae)

Kolnegari¹,

Fasano

Zareie³

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Praying mantids (class Insecta, order Mantodea) are a group of predatory insects comprising approximately 2500 described species, that occur across all continents except Antarctica, with the greatest species diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. Mantids predominantly prey on other invertebrates but are known to feed on small vertebrates. During April and May 2021, we observed mantid feeding events in Manujan County, Kerman Province in southern Iran. Two distinct feeding events were observed where female European Mantids ( Mantis religiosa ) preyed on Purple Sunbird ( Cinnyris asiaticus ) and Crested Lark ( Galerida cristata ) nestlings. In addition, we collated information from online searches of mantids feeding on nestlings elsewhere in the world, revealing two more observations. In Taiwan, a Giant Asian Mantid ( Hierodula patellifera ) was recorded preying on a nestling Warbling White‐eye ( Zosterops japonicus ) and in Brazil, a mantid ( Stagmatoptera sp.) was recorded feeding on a nestling White‐throated Seedeater ( Sporophila albogularis ). To date, the only existing scientific evidence of praying mantids feeding on passerine nestlings was recorded in 1922. We propose two potential explanations for the observed trophic interactions between mantids and passerine nestlings: (1) during egg production female mantids, especially those in poor physical condition, may opportunistically feed on nestlings in order to increase fecundity via nutrient gain and (2) mantids may initially be attracted toward the nest by parasitic or coprophagous insects, as a result of poor nest sanitation, and subsequently prey on nestlings after detecting movements. Our unusual observations represent the first records of praying mantids feeding on nestling passerines in nearly 100 years.

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“…In Iran, avian interactions with power lines are becoming increasingly well‐documented, largely due to the efforts of Iran's Birds and Power Lines Committee (IBPLC) to create national guidelines for managing avian interactions with overhead electric systems (Tavanir 2014, Kolnegari et al 2019). For example, Kolnegari and Harness (2020) evaluated the roles that various electrical components play in avian electrocutions and power outages.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Electrocutions not only kill the animal involved (Dwyer 2006), but can also cause power outages and arcing, creating reliability and fire‐risk concerns (Guil et al 2018, Dwyer et al 2019, Kolnegari et al 2020 b , Barnes et al 2022). Avian nesting on power lines can lead to electrocutions, equipment damage, fires, and power outages when nests or nesting birds contact energized components and create dangerous alternate paths for the flow of electricity (Avian Power Line Interaction Committee 2006, Ferrer 2012, Kolnegari et al 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Crowd‐sourced reporting of birds nesting on power lines in Iran

Kolnegari

Hazrati

Tehrani³

et al. 2022

Wildlife Society Bulletin

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Birds frequently nest on overhead electrical infrastructure, which can lead to electrocutions, equipment damage, fires, and power outages when birds or nests contact energized equipment. Consequently, it is important that electric utilities have data-driven plans for addressing avian nesting on power structures. Iran's Birds and Power Lines Committee (IBPLC) establishes guidelines for how electric utilities in Iran address avian interactions with electrical infrastructure. To support the IBPLC, we gathered information on avian nesting on power lines in Iran by searching posts from 4 crowd-sourced groups: Bargh News, the Iranian linemen group on Instagram, and the Power Distribution Lines Experts and Linemen of Iran groups on Telegram. Contributions (e.g., postings) for each of these groups was limited to electric utility personnel in Iran. We reviewed photos and contacted members in the groups to identify nesting species and voltages of the electrical infrastructure supporting nests. We found 976 nests reported by 89 linemen from January 2019 through December 2020. Most (88%) were found during routine operations and maintenance, but some (12%) were found during power outage investigations. Most (77%) were on distribution pylons, with the rest (23%) on transmission towers. Of the nests found, 203 (21%) were species protected under Iranian law due to small and declining populations. The information we gathered was used by IBPLC to revise electric utility guidelines and ban the destruction of occupied nests (containing eggs or young) on power structures, except in cases where nests create an

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A new committee to address the threats of power grids to birds in Iran

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Electrical Components Involved in Avian-Caused Outages in Iran

Electrical Components Involved in Avian-Caused Outages in Iran

Opportunistic depredation of songbird nestlings by female praying mantids (Mantodea: Mantidae)

Crowd‐sourced reporting of birds nesting on power lines in Iran

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