Twine: good for bales, but bad for birds

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

A few weeks ago at the North Forty News, a woman rushed into the LaPorte office with a worried look.

An osprey on a nest just east of LaPorte was caught in bright orange baling twine and couldn't fly. The concerned citizen watched as the bird repeatedly tried to take off, only to be dragged down by the twine.

That bird managed to free itself without help, but not all are so lucky. In other cases, osprey have to be rescued by public agencies with bucket trucks.

Carin Avila, education director for the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, pointed out that when an adult osprey is inadvertently tied to its nest, it cannot hunt for food.

"But what is more heart-wrenching," she said, "is when the twine causes these majestic birds to hang or dangle upside down until humans can come and intercede."

The RMRP is very familiar with this issue, because the nonprofit has rehabilitated several osprey injured by twine entanglements. It can take four months or longer for an osprey to heal from the injuries, and an entire breeding season can be lost.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife and the RMRP are urging livestock feeders to take action to minimize the dangers posed by baling twine.

"The simple task of picking up the spent twine once removed will eliminate the possibility of the osprey collecting the twine for their nests," Avila said. "This step could save them from entanglement and the need to enter into rehabilitation at the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in this ever-important time of breeding and caring for their young."

Nancy Howard, district wildlife manager for the DOW, added that baling twine should be disposed of in a container or building that's inaccessible to osprey. Hanging it on fence posts is not a good option, she noted.

Howard said that osprey seem to be attracted to baling twine because it's similar in texture to the moss, lichen and cornstalks they traditionally use to line their nests. Baling twine has been found in 90 percent of osprey nests, she said, and it accounts for 10 percent of mortality among young osprey.

Recently in Montana, Howard said, an osprey nest was blown down and a quarter-mile of baling twine was found in the nest. Both Montana and Wyoming have taken steps to educate the public about the dangers of twine for osprey.

Osprey populations have been on the increase in northern Colorado in recent years. The birds largely disappeared from Colorado in the 1960s because of the use of DDT and other harmful pesticides. In the 1990s, the DOW initiated Operation Osprey, constructing nesting platforms to encourage osprey to nest again in the state.