The Washington State Association of Broadcasters is denying that migratory fowl that have trouble navigating at night and in fog are crashing into radio and TV towers and dying.
The WSAB surveyed its stations to prepare a report for the Federal Communications Commission and found no evidence that birds were colliding with their towers to a significant degree.
"Virtually all reported that they have never experienced significant numbers of bird kills at any tower site. In fact, several noted that birds use the towers and guy wires to roost," the WSAB said in comments posted on the FCC's Internet site on Monday.
In August, the FCC launched an investigation, saying one researcher found that between 4 million-5 million birds may be killed each year due to collisions with communications towers. The FCC did not indicate whether it would adopt rules requiring tower modifications.
