The red-tailed grebe (pictured above is a red-tailed grebe rescued at the Nebraska Raptor Recovery Center) often hunts for prey in landfills and is therefore particularly vulnerable to methane burning. Photo by JOEL SARTORE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Written by: TINA DEINES
In October, at the New Mexico Wildlife Center in Espagnola, wildlife rehabilitators received a strangely injured red-tailed bird. The wings of this bird of prey are usually covered with thick dark brown feathers, while this one is badly burned and deep in bone. Its chest and head were also charred.
"It looked like it had passed through a fire," said Hilary DeVries, a wildlife rehabilitation worker at the center. The staff judged that the male bird may have been electrocuted by the wire. But it has no electric shock entrance or exit injuries, no dysfunction, and no sores, which are all characteristics of electrocution.
Rescuers in New Mexico soon discovered that the cause of the red-tailed eagle's injuries was methane burning, a method mandated by the federal government to dispose of methane in landfills across the United States. Landfills use a device called a "methane burner" to turn this potent greenhouse gas into water and carbon dioxide; carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorbs less heat than methane. But when the flames of the burners erupted from the 9-meter-high exhaust pipe or large chimney, they were still colorless, so the birds flew straight into the flames without any warning.
Bird burns are reported in many places, most of them birds of prey, including Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Colorado, where burns have been recorded; however, there are no official statistics on the number of injuries or deaths. The situation in New Jersey is more public, with some birds of prey being treated at rescue centers in the state.
Since 2017, a cage has been placed around the methane burner at the Kingsland landfill to prevent birds from hitting the flames.
Courtesy image: NJSEA
Chris Soucy, executive director of The Raptor Trust, based in Millington, New Jersey, said the Raptor Trust has treated at least four red-tailed grebes burned by methane in recent years. He called methane gas a "terrible" injury to birds, and while moulting regenerates most of the birds' feathers, some of the feathers burned so badly that it took two years to heal. "This period of captivity is simply too long for wildlife," Soucy said.
Birds that fly into the chimney to exhaust the air are engulfed in flames. Older birds may survive injuries, fly away or crash into bushes. Rescuers often went undetected, and eventually they starved to death because they lost the ability to migrate and hunt.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a good solution to this. We just figured out the ins and outs," said Gary Siftar, head of the Oklahoma Raptor Center in Broken Arrow City. Since 2015, the center has encountered about 12 birds burned by methane burners.
Siftar said methane burning also exists in other industries, such as oil and gas extraction, which is therefore a "common problem" for birds.
"Happening Quietly"
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are 2,627 landfills in operation in the United States. The garbage inside is piled up, and after the degradation of organic matter, about 50% of the gas produced is methane, 50% of which is carbon dioxide and other gases. The U.S. Department of Energy says combustion is the best way to eliminate methane because carbon dioxide, a by-product of combustion, is a weaker greenhouse gas.
Birds of prey are easily burned by flames because they often inhabit methane burners, searching for prey below. Joey Mason tells us that the landfill attracts these birds because it looks like a grassy hill, an ideal hunting habitat to be seen from a few kilometres away. Mason is president of Keeping Company With Kestrels, a nonprofit organization in Middleborough, Massachusetts that works on raptor science.
In October 2019, at the Raptor Trust in New Jersey, rehabilitators were treating a young red-tailed eagle. Its feathers were burned by a methane burner.
供图：THE RAPTOR TRUST
Since 2012, in both spring and autumn, Mason's organization has documented birds of prey migrating from the nearby CarverMarin Wellham landfill. In 2010, a red-tailed eagle was burned here. Between 2012 and 2019, they recorded a total of 435 birds, most of which were American falcons, but also bald eagles, grey-backed falcons and red-tailed eagles. The number of birds burned is unknown, rescuers are worried, and it is only a small fraction that is found and sent to a rehabilitation center.
Wildlife biologist Rick Harness points out that many landfills in the United States are located in remote areas, and injured birds are easily overlooked. Harness says, "This phenomenon is happening quietly," but there is little research on it. Harness works for Colorado-based EDM International Engineering Consulting.
According to Harris, methane burners mainly hurt red-tailed owls and eagle owls. Since the 1960s, the population of the red-tailed grebe has been increasing in much of North America. Neither bird species are currently listed as threatened or endangered, but that doesn't mean we don't need attention, he said: "We shouldn't burn them to death while figuring out other solutions." ”
Find a solution
Some landfills have begun protecting birds, such as the Kingsland Landfill in North Arlington, New Jersey.
Brian Aberback, the New Jersey Sports and Expo Authority (NJSEA), whose media representative oversees the site, said that in 2017, the landfill installed a large cage around methane burners to prevent birds from flying into the flames.
The cage was successful until September of this year, but it was damaged by a storm and was only repaired in October. During this time, 3 birds flew through the cage into the flames and were burned and died.
"Protecting the delicate balance of nature" is one of the NJSEA's missions, Aberback added, adding that in 2010 they found birds burned by methane burners and began working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to work on possible solutions.
Don Torino, president of the Audubon Society at the Kingsland Landfill in Bergen County, New Jersey, said covering methane burners with cages may be the only way to keep birds safe, but he suspects most landfills won't have such barriers.
Other recommendations include laying wires to prevent birds from perching on poles near burners, or building taller burners so that birds can't fly up to the chimney.
As for the New Mexico red-tailed eagle, it is likely to spend the entire winter in a rehabilitation center and stay longer if the spring is not successfully moulted. However, rescuer DeVries believes that its healing situation is good, especially if only the feathers are affected. "This bird is really lucky," she said.
(Translator: Sky4)