Birds and Radiofrequency Radiation
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Field studies at cell towers have documented the negative effects of man-made radiofrequency radiation on wild birds. The negative effects include mating and reproductive issues, navigation issues, eye issues, nesting issues, and other health and behavioral issues.
Scientists have found strong negative correlations between bird breeding and levels of microwave radiation emitted from nearby cell towers; when radiation levels were higher, bird breeding success was lower. In addition to breeding, higher radiation levels have been found to be detrimental to nesting and roosting behaviors in the vicinity of the electromagnetic fields emitted from the towers.
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Specific species that have been studied and found to suffer health, migratory, and reproductive problems include House sparrows, European robins and other night-migratory songbirds, White storks, Rock doves, Magpies, Collared doves, Northern Bald ibis, and others.
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The peer reviewed scientific research below describes nest abandonment, plumage deterioration, and locomotion problems among birds of varying species. Other issues included reduced survivorship and even death.
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Bird conservation efforts should begin to include protection of birds from the radiation emitted from cell towers into their habitats during daytime activities, sleeping and nesting areas, as well as night migratory activities. Conservation measures should be adopted to minimize the deaths and injuries of birds due to electrical pollution exposure.
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Night-Migratory Songbirds:
Unable to Use Their Magnetic Compass When Exposed to Broadband
Often unnoticed by humans, billions of songbirds migrate at night every spring and fall. This research study published in 2022 looked at night-migrating songbirds and concluded that the birds were unable to use their magnetic compass when exposed to broadband, or man-made radiofrequency fields in the 75-85 MHz range.
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Discussion excerpt: "Our results are in line with previous research (Ritz et al. 2004; Engels et al. 2014; Schwarze et al. 2016) showing that a broadband RF noise can disturb magnetic compass orientation of night-migratory songbirds (summarised in Fig. 4)."
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Abstract: "The light-dependent magnetic compass sense of night-migratory songbirds can be disrupted by weak radiofrequency fields. This finding supports a quantum mechanical, radical-pair-based mechanism of magnetoreception as observed for isolated cryptochrome 4, a protein found in birds’ retinas... Here, we show that broadband 75–85 MHz radiofrequency fields prevent a night-migratory songbird from using its magnetic compass in behavioural experiments. These results indicate that at least one of the components of the radical pair involved in the sensory process of avian magnetoreception must contain a substantial number of strong hyperfine interactions as would be the case if a flavin–tryptophan radical pair were the magnetic sensor."
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Leberecht, B., Kobylkov, D., Karwinkel, T. et al. Broadband 75–85 MHz radiofrequency fields disrupt magnetic compass orientation in night-migratory songbirds consistent with a flavin-based radical pair magnetoreceptor. J Comp Physiol A 208, 97–106 (2022).
Northern Bald Ibis:
Eye Problems in Birds Tagged With Wireless GSM Radio Transmitters
The Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) is an endangered species in Europe. Efforts to reintroduce the birds have involved attachment of wireless radio transmitters to their backs for monitoring. Among the radio tagged birds, biologists have documented the development of unilateral corneal opacity, in which the cornea, or clear lens of the eye, becomes opaque making the eye appear white or clouded over. This corneal opacity prevents light from passing through, impairing the birds' vision.
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In a study published in 2022, scientists examined possible explanations for the increased cases of corneal opacity in the radio tagged birds. The most likely explanation was a repetitive slight rise in temperature in the eye tissue of the birds, caused by the GSM modules which emitted electromagnetic radiation from the wireless transmitters in the tagged birds.
The larger implication of this study is that the non-thermal effects of the wireless devices caused serious and measurable negative health effects. The fact that the effects were not thermal in nature is important because to date, regulation of wireless technology has been limited to consideration of thermal effects without consideration of potential non-thermal effects.
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Balmori A. (2022). Corneal opacity in Northern Bald Ibises (Geronticus eremita) equipped with radio transmitters. Electromagnetic biology and medicine, 41(2), 174–176. Link
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"Our results are in line with previous research
showing that a broadband RF noise can disturb magnetic compass orientation of night-migratory songbirds."
"When European robins, Erithacus rubecula, were exposed to the background electromagnetic noise present in unscreened wooden huts at the University of Oldenburg campus, they could not orient using their magnetic compass.
Their magnetic orientation capabilities reappeared in electrically grounded, aluminium-screened huts, which attenuated electromagnetic noise in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 5 MHz by approximately two orders of magnitude."
European Robins:
Could Not Orient When Exposed to Electromagnetic Noise from College Campus; Regained Orientation Once Protected by Screening
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13290
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In this double-blind study, researchers placed European robins in wooden huts on a university campus in Germany, to study the effects of the background levels of electromagnetic noise on the birds. This study documents the effect of man-made electromagnetic noise on the behavior of the robins, as well as the ability to reproduce the effect repeatedly. When the robins were exposed to the
background electrosmog from the
college campus, without any special
screening on their wooden huts, they
were unable to orient normally using
their magnetic compass. However, once
their huts were protected by aluminum screening which blocked out the electromagnetic noise, the robins regained their magnetic orientation capabilities. This could be repeated over and over again by removing the grounding on the aluminum screening, or by deliberately generating broadband electromagnetic noise inside the screened huts. In these cases the birds would again lose their magnetic orientation capabilities.
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Abstract: "Electromagnetic noise is emitted everywhere humans use electronic devices. For decades, it has been hotly debated whether man-made electric and magnetic fields affect biological processes ... Here we show that migratory birds are unable to use their magnetic compass in the presence of urban electromagnetic noise. When European robins, Erithacus rubecula, were exposed to the background electromagnetic noise present in unscreened wooden huts at the University of Oldenburg campus, they could not orient using their magnetic compass. Their magnetic orientation capabilities reappeared in electrically grounded, aluminium-screened huts, which attenuated electromagnetic noise in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 5 MHz by approximately two orders of magnitude. When the grounding was removed or when broadband electromagnetic noise was deliberately generated inside the screened and grounded huts, the birds again lost their magnetic orientation capabilities. The disruptive effect of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields is not confined to a narrow frequency band and birds tested far from sources of electromagnetic noise required no screening to orient with their magnetic compass. These fully double-blinded tests document a reproducible effect of anthropogenic electromagnetic noise on the behaviour of an intact vertebrate."
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Egels S, Schneider NL, Lefeldt N, Hein CM, Zapka M, Michalik A, Elbers D, Kittel A, Hore PJ, Mouritsen H (2014) Anthropogenic electromagnetic noise disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory bird. Nature 509(7500):353–356.
House Sparrows:
Electromagnetic Pollution Could Be a Factor
in Their Declining Numbers
Alfonso Balmori. (2021) Electromagnetic Pollution as a Possible Explanation for the Decline of House Sparrows in Interaction with Other Factors. Birds 2:3, pages 329-337.
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https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6004/2/3/24/pdf?version=1632232666
White Storks:
Among White Storks living near cell towers, two out of five nests had no chicks.
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The white stork a (vulnerable) bird species that usually lives in urban areas. For three years in a row during the Spring, (the Springs of 2002, 2003 and 2004), biologist Alfonso Balmori monitored the reproduction of white storks. White stork couples build their nests in pinnacles and other very high places that are now exposed to man-made microwaves. Balmori studied white stork nests within 200 meters of cellular antennas and nests located more than 300 meters from antennas. He found that twelve of the nests located within 200 meters of an antenna had no chicks, amounting to 40 percent of the nests near antennas. In contrast, among the nests further than 300 meters of antennas, only one of the nests had no chicks, or 3.3 percent of the nests. In addition, white stork couples near antennas were found to fight frequently for sticks, and to drop their sticks to the ground while trying to build nests; the nests nearer to antennas often never got completely built, and hatched white stork chicks frequently died.
Abstract: "Monitoring of a white stork population in Valladolid (Spain) in the vicinity of Cellular Phone Base Stations was carried out, with the objective of detecting possible effects. The total productivity, in the nests located within 200 meters of antennae, was 0.86 ± 0.16. For those located further than 300 m, the result was practically doubled, with an average of 1.6 ± 0.14. Very significant differences among the total productivity were found (U = 240; p = 0.001, Mann-Whitney test)... Twelve nests (40%) located within than 200 m of antennae never had chicks, while only one (3.3%) located further than 300 m had no chicks. The electric field intensity was higher on nests within 200 m (2.36 ± 0.82 V/m) than on nests further than 300 m (0.53 ± 0.82 V/m). Interesting behavioral observations of the white stork nesting sites located within 100 m of one or several cellsite antennae were carried out. These results are compatible with the possibility that microwaves are interfering with the reproduction of white storks and would corroborate the results of laboratory research by other authors."
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Balmori, Alfonso. (2005). Possible Effects of Electromagnetic Fields from Phone Masts on a Population of White Stork ( Ciconia ciconia ). Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine. Link
European Robin (Erithacus rubecula):
Magnetic Sensitivity of Cryptochrome 4 from a Migratory Songbird
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https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03618-9
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Published in the journal Nature in June 2021, this research study examined the mechanism of magnetic sensitivity in the European robin (Erithacus rubecula). One of the ways the European robin navigates at night is through directional cues using an internal magnetic compass that is thought to involve cryptochrome flavoproteins located in the retinas of the birds.
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The study shows that the European robin's cryptochrome 4 (CRY4) is magnetically sensitive in vitro, and is more sensitive than the CRY4 from two birds that do not migrate, chickens (Gallus gallus) and pigeons (Columba livia).
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Abstract: "Night-migratory songbirds are remarkably proficient navigators1. Flying alone and often over great distances, they use various directional cues including, crucially, a light-dependent magnetic compass2,3. The mechanism of this compass has been suggested to rely on the quantum spin dynamics of photoinduced radical pairs in cryptochrome flavoproteins located in the retinas of the birds4,5,6,7. Here we show that the photochemistry of cryptochrome 4 (CRY4) from the night-migratory European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is magnetically sensitive in vitro, and more so than CRY4 from two non-migratory bird species, chicken (Gallus gallus) and pigeon (Columba livia). Site-specific mutations of ErCRY4 reveal the roles of four successive flavin–tryptophan radical pairs in generating magnetic field effects and in stabilizing potential signalling states in a way that could enable sensing and signalling functions to be independently optimized in night-migratory birds.."
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Xu, J., Jarocha, L.E., Zollitsch, T. et al. Magnetic sensitivity of cryptochrome 4 from a migratory songbird. Nature 594, 535–540 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03618-9
European robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Disruption of magnetic compass orientation in migratory birds by radiofrequency electromagnetic fields
Abstract: The radical-pair mechanism has been put forward as the basis of the magnetic compass sense of migratory birds. Some of the strongest supporting evidence has come from behavioral experiments in which birds exposed to weak time-dependent magnetic fields lose their ability to orient in the geomagnetic field. However, conflicting results and skepticism about the requirement for abnormally long quantum coherence lifetimes have cast a shroud of uncertainty over these potentially pivotal studies. Using a recently developed computational approach, we explore the effects of various radiofrequency magnetic fields on biologically plausible radicals within the theoretical framework of radical-pair magnetoreception. We conclude that the current model of radical-pair magnetoreception is unable to explain the findings of the reported behavioral experiments. Assuming that an unknown mechanism amplifies the predicted effects, we suggest experimental conditions that have the potential to distinguish convincingly between the two distinct families of radical pairs currently postulated as magnetic compass sensors. We end by making recommendations for experimental protocols that we hope will increase the chance that future experiments can be independently replicated.
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Hiscock HG, Mouritsen H, Manolopoulos DE, Hore PJ (2017) Disruption of magnetic compass orientation in migratory birds by radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Biophys J 113(7):1475–1484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2017.07.031
Hesam Akbari, Sanaz Khoramipour, Seyed Kamal Eshagh Hossaini, Roya Mafigholami, Behnaz Moradighiasabadi. (2021) Effect of Base Transceiver Station (BTS) waves on some blood factors in domestic pigeons: an experimental study. Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering 19:2, pages 1827-1833.
Joris Everaert & Dirk Bauwens (2007) A Possible Effect of Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Phone Base Stations on the Number of Breeding House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 26:1, 63-72. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17454083/