From Grist online magazine

Somewhere between 5 million and 50 million migratory birds die every
year from slamming into communications towers for cell phones,
pagers, and radios, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Now, environmentalists are suing the Federal Communications
Commission to force it to protect those birds.  The lawsuit concerns
towers that are at least 200 feet tall and located near the Gulf of
Mexico, a common stopover for many species during spring and fall
migrations.  The suit was filed by the American Bird Conservancy,
Friends of the Earth, and the Forest Conservation Council, which want
the FCC to require existing towers to use warning devices (such as
colored lights and high-pitched sound) to keep birds away.  They also
want all future tower proposals to be reviewed for likely impacts on
bird populations.  The affected critters include some of the nation's
most endangered songbirds -- the black rail, Bell's vireo, the
golden-winged warbler, and Henslow's sparrow.

straight to the source:  MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 20 Feb 2003
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/875254.asp>

only in Grist: Songbird sings the blues -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/ha/ha011402.asp?source=daily>



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