Mark fences to reduce bird collision mortality

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

65%
Certainty

46%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Fences erected around young plantations (to exclude deer and other browsers) or to delineate property can be hard to see and low-flying birds such as grouse can be killed by flying into them. See ‘Mark power lines to reduce incidental mortality’ for similar interventions designed to reduce collision mortality with power lines.

Study locations

Key messages

A randomised, replicated and controlled study from the UK found that fewer birds collided with deer fence marked with orange netting than with unmarked sections.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

In a randomised, replicated and controlled study at thirteen sites in the Scottish Highlands from April 1995 to May 1997 (Baines & Andrew 2003), significantly fewer birds collided with sections of deer fence marked with orange netting (0.35 collisions/km/month) than with unmarked control sections (1.13 collisions/km/month). A total of 437 birds collided with the fences, 92% of which were gamebirds (red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus accounted for 42%, black grouse Tetrao tetrix 29% and western capercaillie Tetrao urogallus 20%). Collision rates in marked sections were 91% lower for black grouse and 64% lower for capercallie than in control sections. A total of 20 km of ten different fences was tested, with two 1 km stretches of each fence being randomly assigned to treatments.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Baines D. & Andrew M. (2003) Marking of deer fences to reduce frequency of collisions by woodland grouse. Biological Conservation, 110, 169-176.

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

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