HELENA, Mont. (AP) - After a long winter migration, the pair of ospreys nesting on a cellphone tower across from Kessler Elementary School returned Wednesday. Little did they know during their time away the efforts that went into making their nest safe for them and this year’s crop of chicks.
Before, woven within the nest were long strands of orange baling twine. The twine had come loose and flailed in the breeze creating a major hazard for the raptors. Now the nest is baling twine free thanks to a group of second-graders who decided to write letters to the cellphone company urging them to take action.
During a February fieldtrip to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks education center Montana Wild, Amy Johnson’s class at Kessler learned about the dangers of ospreys using baling twine to build their nests. Ospreys can become easily entangled and suffer serious injuries or even die, they learned, and the kids wanted to do something to help.
Johnson and Laurie Evarts, education program manager for FWP, came up with the idea for the students to write letters about what they learned. They took the assignment to heart, and each student penned a letter telling the company about the danger on its tower. The only problem was nobody seemed to know where the letters needed to go.
“We couldn’t figure out at first who owned the cell tower,” Evarts said.
Evarts went to work trying to track the owner down. A week of phone calls turned into two and then three. Company after company kept expressing concern, but saying the tower was not theirs. Meanwhile, the clock kept ticking as the ospreys typically return the first week of April. Despite all the dead ends, Johnson said she was impressed with the help and support she received from several companies.
“It’s a testimony to how many people do care about wildlife,” she said. “Here is one breeding pair out of a lot of osprey, and they were very proactive trying to help.”
Evarts finally got the break she was looking for when a concerned employee for T-Mobile looked up the tower and found out AT&T owned it.
AT&T responded quickly, and last week a crew of five arrived to climb and remove the twine as the kids looked on.
“As soon as we heard about it, we got a crew there to assess and developed a plan,” said Tara Thue, director of external affairs for AT&T Montana. “The letters were very thoughtful, and we’re happy to help in any way we could.”
Thue added that osprey nests are something with which her company is familiar.
“We try to monitor our towers as closely as possible,” she said. “In this case, we really thank Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the second grade class for bringing it to our attention.”
Biologists don’t know why ospreys like to build their nests with baling twine, but the danger is widespread. Heiko Langer from the University of Montana and Rob Domenech of the Raptor View Research Institute in Missoula began studying heavy metals in ospreys along the Clark Fork River Superfund Site nine years ago. The team made some startling discoveries.
“I found several osprey hanging from nests from baling twine,” Domenech said. “Every season it happens.”
The researchers began adding up what they found. Of the more than 30 nests they surveyed, 90 percent had baling twine mixed in. As they climbed into nests to test the raptors for heavy metals, 10 percent of the young ospreys had become entangled and died.
For reasons unknown to researchers, ospreys use all sorts of foreign material in nest construction. During the Clark Fork study, they’ve found flip flops, bathing suits, barbed wire and lots of baling twine mixed into the nests.
“They’re different in the raptor world that way - you name it and we’ve found it in osprey nests,” Domenech said. “They go out of their way to pick up material.”
Raptor View Research Institute began printing pamphlets to inform the public and ranchers about the dangers of baling twine for ospreys. They want people to know that protecting ospreys is as easy as picking it up.
“It’s as simple as keeping the ground clean and get it off the fence posts,” Domenech said. “We’ve tried to raise awareness but it’s hard to reach the masses.”
If ospreys do become entangled, the results can be devastating. The twine can cut into tendons and wings, and often the raptors must be euthanized.
“Ospreys are notoriously difficult to rehab,” said Lisa Rhodin, FWP wildlife center coordinator.
FWP has its raptor rehabilitation center behind Montana Wild. Rhodin said that ospreys tend to be more nervous and less trusting of people and don’t eat well in captivity. FWP averages three to four ospreys per year in the center.
Rhodin explained that in addition to their demeanor, ospreys’ specialty in catching fish makes them difficult to rehab. Ospreys rotate their shoulders farther than most raptors, generating power when they dive below the water’s surface after a fish. The rehab center sees many injuries from ospreys flying into things like wires.
Ospreys also have unique feet that allow them to hang on to fish. Those feet don’t allow them to perch on a branch, and rehabbers struggle to keep their feet healthy.
Often when an osprey comes in tangled in baling twine, they’ve already lost a limb, Rhodin said, and at that point they have no other option but to euthanize it.
The entire operation to remove the baling twine took more than two hours with two climbers dangling high in the air. Mrs. Johnson’s class watched with binoculars from the schoolyard, cheering as the twine fell.
“Look, Mrs. Johnson, he’s in the nest,” one student called out as the crewmember pulled twine.
“I see it!” another replied.
Not to miss a chance for an assignment, the students did individual reports and sketches of what they observed. Johnson said the opportunity was a good chance to practice writing while also learning about science.
“It’s kind of fun for them to think they can make a difference even at this age,” Johnson said.
The students watched intently as the operation unfolded. Several of them said that ospreys are their new favorite bird and they were glad the ospreys wouldn’t get caught by the baling twine.
When asked why the baling twine needed to come down, several of the students chimed in.
“So ospreys don’t die,” one boy said.
“Ospreys are a good bird,” one girl added.
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Information from: Independent Record, https://www.helenair.com
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