New York State Tower Survey
Welcome to the New York State Tower Survey homepage. This is a volunteer-operated survey that monitors bird mortality at broadcast and communication towers. The survey was formed in 1998. It consists of a volunteer network that is activated by a hotline on the evening before a forecasted towerkill night. Early the next morning the volunteers visit their pre-assigned tower and spend 10 minutes or more looking for dead birds. Previous studies show that most bird mortality at towers in upstate New York occurs during the months of September and October on evenings with northerly winds that also have foggy or low cloud conditions.
Though weather conditions were generally not conducive for towerkills in fall 1998, the hotline was activated for searches on two mornings. 21 bird carcasses were collected at 15 towers by volunteers from local bird clubs and students from Cornell University and Ithaca College [see details below].
The following broadcast and communications entities cooperated with the 1998 survey:
Frontier Cellular
CellularOne
WIXT-TV Syracuse
WSYT-TV in Syracuse
WBNG-TV in Binghamton
WTKO radio in Ithaca
WETV in Elmira
WIVB-TV in Buffalo area
WUTV-TV in Buffalo area
WKGW-TV in Buffalo area
WGRZ-TV in Buffalo area
United States Coast Guard
The fall 1999 survey is endorsed by the New York State Federation of Bird Clubs and is conducted in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Volunteers with New York State and Federal salvage permits will collect and ship any large kills to the DEC lab in Albany, NY for ongoing studies of pesticides in bird tissues. Specimens will also be salvaged for the vertebrate collections at Cornell University and the Buffalo Museum of Science. Coordination is planned with rehabbers in New York State to care for injured birds.
Letters were sent to over 150 tower owners in upstate New York asking their cooperation with the 1999 survey. In addition to the companies participating in 1998, the following agreed to participate in the 1999 survey.
WNED-TV
WMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
WKBW TV LICENSE INC
WB49-TV
WARREN BROADCASTING CO
TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT
SULLIVAN BROADCASTING OF BUFFALO INC
STRAUS MEDIA LLC
NIAGARA FRONTIER TRANSIT METRO SYSTEM
NEW YORK STATE DEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
JSR COMPANY
INTERNATIONAL CABLEVISION INC
GRAND ISLAND CABLE INC
GLOBAL ACQUISITION PARTNERS LP
COUNTY OF GENESEE
BUFFALO CRUSHED STONE INC
AT&T CORP
ARMSTRONG TELEPHONE COMPANY
ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ALBANY BROADCASTING COMPANY
A R CABLE SERVICES NY INC
Companies that declined to participate in the 1999 survey
FITCH COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
SPRINT
RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
SURVEY RESULTS:
| September 22, 1998 |
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October 10, 1998 |
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September 22, 1999 |
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admin@towerkill.com |