You will NEVER see a bird land on an energized transmission line 69KV or greater

[BeyondET]

True. That's why they go for the transformers.

Peregrine falcons in my area nest a lot on high power poles. those are pretty much bird eaters. the population has been growing in resent years here

 

[BeyondET]

They are tough too, I heard one crash into a tree and seen it fall through the branches with a squirrel in its grasps freaked me out at first I thought something was wrong with it Nay just eating.

 

[Norbert L]

My friends and I have always wondered why this is... Why we've never seen a bird accidentally get even close to one, and now I think I may know why... Because they can actually "see" the magnetic field that surrounds the wires, and they're afraid of it.

We Finally Know How Birds Can See Earth's Magnetic Field

I have a pet parrot and I've always wondered what it would be like to have two eyeballs one each side of my head instead of the front. When you only have one eyeball staring back, it can make a person wonder what's the other eye doing? It's sort of spooky.

 

[Landon Caeli]

I have a pet parrot and I've always wondered what it would be like to have two eyeballs one each side of my head instead of the front. When you only have one eyeball staring back, it can make a person wonder what's the other eye doing? It's sort of spooky.

...That is kind of weird, now that you mention it. How do they process that?

I think there's a lot more mystery to this world than what we give it credit for. It's why I can't abandon that Einstein quote in my signature - It's too true.

 

[Norbert L]

...That is kind of weird, now that you mention it. How do they process that?

I think there's a lot more mystery to this world than what we give it credit for. It's why I can't abandon that Einstein quote in my signature - It's too true.

I can only imagine it's similar to those few intellectually gifted people who often get disciplined for not paying attention in a classroom because they're reading a book while still maintaining enough comprehension about what the professor just taught prior to having everyone else in that class looking at you. Please excuse the run on sentence.

 

[BeyondET]

I have a pet parrot and I've always wondered what it would be like to have two eyeballs one each side of my head instead of the front. When you only have one eyeball staring back, it can make a person wonder what's the other eye doing? It's sort of spooky.

talk about spooky lol.

 

[DamianWarS]

My friends and I have always wondered why this is... Why we've never seen a bird accidentally get even close to one, and now I think I may know why... Because they can actually "see" the magnetic field that surrounds the wires, and they're afraid of it.

We Finally Know How Birds Can See Earth's Magnetic Field

Plenty of birds land on high voltage power lines. So long as they are not touching the ground (or something that is) they are fine. Plenty of birds also die from them too but not from what you would expect. It's not the electricity that kills them, it's the impact. Turns out flying into a line that you don't see can cause quite a bit of harm.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Plenty of birds land on high voltage power lines. So long as they are not touching the ground (or something that is) they are fine. Plenty of birds also die from them too but not from what you would expect. It's not the electricity that kills them, it's the impact. Turns out flying into a line that you don't see can cause quite a bit of harm.

Amazing....

...But I bet one day, there will be no birds "flying into lines" as natural selection weeds out the blind in wild animals, particularly the ones who are blind from a lack of CRY4.

 

[sjastro]

I thought it would be obvious that birds are not naturally charged up at 500,000 volts like transmission lines are. Thank God they're not, because they'd be popping all over the place everytime they landed on the ground.

...Again, there's a transfer of electrons, between two potentials that occurs when any two objects touch. Large transfers can be deadly.

You're not accepting that the transmission lines are energized at obscenely high voltages. They feed entire cities, it's not like a simple light bulb at 120 volts... It's the magnitude that makes the difference of the air becoming conductive.

I can't explain it any better than I have. It's just so much voltage, that it "jumps" over.

I’m afraid your explanation doesn’t cut it.
It is definitely not the case of so much voltage that “jumps over” which doesn’t even make any sense.

For those interested here is the physics explanation why a bird is not fried when near or perched on a high voltage power line.
I don’t expect you to attempt to understand it given you are in complete denial mode in rejecting the more direct method of photographic evidence of birds perched on high voltage lines.

Assuming a bird carries a net charge lets consider the case of an electrical power distribution system for V = 500,000 volts; the wires produce an electromagnetic field which the bird is exposed to when flying through it or when perched on the wire.
There is an electromagnetic force on the bird.
If a bird is composed of a continuous charge distribution ρ(r), in the electromagnetic field its electrical potential Vₑ(r) is defined by the integral;

k is Coulombs’ constant, and |r - rₓ| is the distance of the xth charge from some point on the wire.
In this case we assume the medium is a vacuum but as will be seen this is not an issue.

The potential Vₑ for each individual charge in the distribution follows the inverse distance law and is independent of the voltage of the power lines.

That’s the theory assuming a bird carries a net charge but what is the reality.
While high voltage power lines do cause corona discharge where the strength of the electromagnetic field causes the surrounding air to undergo dielectric breakdown, there is no evidence of birds undergoing polarization in the electromagnetic field resulting in an electric dipole charge distribution.
As a result there is no electromagnetic force acting on the bird and therefore it cannot have an electric potential.
This doesn’t mean Vₑ(r) = 0, it is simply not defined and the inverse distance law for each individual charge doesn’t hold.
If air is the medium or when the bird is perched the result is the same; there is no potential difference V - Vₑ(r) between the wire and the bird since the electric potential Vₑ(r) doesn’t exist.
Since there is no potential difference there is no dielectric breakdown caused by the bird, no miniature lightning bolts and no birds crashing to a fiery death.

It brings up another point; if birds caused dielectric breakdowns, in plague proportions the consequences would be disastrous not only for ongoing maintenance but bushfires.
Australia has had its fair share of major bushfires due to power lines but no coronial inquest has ever determined a bushfire as the result of a dielectric failure caused by a bird.
Birds can cause short circuits if they contact more than one wire in which case they can be treated as the dielectric medium but not as an electric potential.

 

[Landon Caeli]

I’m afraid your explanation doesn’t cut it.
It is definitely not the case of so much voltage that “jumps over” which doesn’t even make any sense.

For those interested here is the physics explanation why a bird is not fried when near or perched on a high voltage power line.
I don’t expect you to attempt to understand it given you are in complete denial mode in rejecting the more direct method of photographic evidence of birds perched on high voltage lines.

Assuming a bird carries a net charge lets consider the case of an electrical power distribution system for V = 500,000 volts; the wires produce an electromagnetic field which the bird is exposed to when flying through it or when perched on the wire.
There is an electromagnetic force on the bird.
If a bird is composed of a continuous charge distribution ρ(r), in the electromagnetic field its electrical potential Vₑ(r) is defined by the integral;

k is Coulombs’ constant, and |r - rₓ| is the distance of the xth charge from some point on the wire.
In this case we assume the medium is a vacuum but as will be seen this is not an issue.

The potential Vₑ for each individual charge in the distribution follows the inverse distance law and is independent of the voltage of the power lines.

That’s the theory assuming a bird carries a net charge but what is the reality.
While high voltage power lines do cause corona discharge where the strength of the electromagnetic field causes the surrounding air to undergo dielectric breakdown, there is no evidence of birds undergoing polarization in the electromagnetic field resulting in an electric dipole charge distribution.
As a result there is no electromagnetic force acting on the bird and therefore it cannot have an electric potential.
This doesn’t mean Vₑ(r) = 0, it is simply not defined and the inverse distance law for each individual charge doesn’t hold.
If air is the medium or when the bird is perched the result is the same; there is no potential difference V - Vₑ(r) between the wire and the bird since the electric potential Vₑ(r) doesn’t exist.
Since there is no potential difference there is no dielectric breakdown caused by the bird, no miniature lightning bolts and no birds crashing to a fiery death.

It brings up another point; if birds caused dielectric breakdowns, in plague proportions the consequences would be disastrous not only for ongoing maintenance but bushfires.
Australia has had its fair share of major bushfires due to power lines but no coronial inquest has ever determined a bushfire as the result of a dielectric failure caused by a bird.
Birds can cause short circuits if they contact more than one wire in which case they can be treated as the dielectric medium but not as an electric potential.

Are you ready for the giant hole to get shot through your argument...?? Here it is:

Birds are NOT a dielectric material..!

...They have "blood" running throughout their bodies, that consist of minerals including iron and copper... Conductive minerals..!

...Yes it's true... Animals are in fact, highly conductive, just like the dirty water in your bathtub is highly conductive, which is why we have GFCI outlets in the bathroom, in case your hair dryer falls in there, it doesn't kill you. In the same way as bathwater, blood is conductive, therfore birds are conductive.

 

[Landon Caeli]

...Guys, unlike what @sjastro has said, birds are *highly* conductive, just like people are, due to the minerals in our liquid-filled bodies...

Since they are highly conductive (which we know for a fact because they get blown up on H1 and H2 transformer bushings all the time), they do indeed possess a difference in potential from a 500,000 volt transmission line, and will indeed die if they come into contact with one *while energized*.

It will be just like this, except instead of a wand, it would be a birds foot:

 

[Landon Caeli]

Now the question becomes: Why don't birds land on transmission lines? How do they know not to, since any attempt will prove fatal, preventing them any chance to learn?

...I say, it's because they can "see" when it's energized. And science already knows that birds can see magnetic fields, by a chemical known as CRY4.

 

[jacks]

...I say, it's because they can "see" when it's energized.

It could very well be they can "see" it or perhaps they are able to "feel" the fields before they reach a dangerous level. Like sharks can feel/sense their prey.

 

[BeyondET]

Are you ready for the giant hole to get shot through your argument...?? Here it is:

Birds are NOT a dielectric material..!

...They have "blood" running throughout their bodies, that consist of minerals including iron and copper... Conductive minerals..!

...Yes it's true... Animals are in fact, highly conductive, just like the dirty water in your bathtub is highly conductive, which is why we have GFCI outlets in the bathroom, in case your hair dryer falls in there, it doesn't kill you. In the same way as bathwater, blood is conductive, therfore birds are conductive.

so little though doesn't cause 500,000v to divert to it.

 

[Landon Caeli]

so little though doesn't cause 500,000v to divert to it.

Then show me a video of a bird landing on an energized 500,000V transmission line.

...It's never been caught on film?

 

[SelfSim]

It will be just like this, except instead of a wand, it would be a birds foot:

A bird's foot is connected to a bunch of non conducting, porous, non static charge acquiring feathers .. there is no circuit formed to anything having a lower potential. No appreciable current will flow.

The human being in the following video of a 7.65KV line, (see from 2:00 min mark onwards), is physically and electrically attached to a helicopter, (or a hollow flying sphere). That sphere is able to disperse any acquired charge immediately back to the air flowing over its conductive rotor blade skin .. that is, it, along with he human, becomes a conducting element in a circuit and current therefore flows. The human is also not killed as he approaches the wire (ie: as he penetrates the strong surrounding field) .. for the same reason a bird doesn't.

 

[SelfSim]

Then show me a video of a bird landing on an energized 500,000V transmission line.

...It's never been caught on film?

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence (even though such images have already been presented to you in this thread).

 

[BeyondET]

Then show me a video of a bird landing on an energized 500,000V transmission line.

...It's never been caught on film?

people did but you said it was de-energized

 

[SelfSim]

so little though doesn't cause 500,000v to divert to it.

If the conductor on a 500KV line was so imperfect as to force a current to flow between a bird's legs, it wouldn't be much good for long haul transmission purposes, eh?

 

[BeyondET]

maybe snakes chase them off lol.