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   Skip Navigation LinksHome : Stewardship : What We Do : Water Tank Ladders
Water Tank Ladders

Bird drowning in livestock watering tanks likely has been a problem since the use of artificial watering sources became popular across the grasslands of North America. Since 2001, we have found carcasses of hundreds of birds in livestock watering tanks across western Nebraska, including Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Mountain Bluebirds, Ferruginous Hawks, Red Crossbills, and Lark Buntings. During a time of declining population trends for even the most common prairie birds, we must take measures to reduce the severity of negative impacts that may be afflicting our native fauna. Wildlife escape ladders are one measure to reduce bird drowning in stock tanks. Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) developed the design of a ladder that may be used to meet the standard requirements for NRCS Standard 614, Watering Facility, which requires installation of a wildlife escape ladder in these facilities. The design was revised by NRCS to provide dimensions for ease of fabrication.

During the summer of 2006, Nebraska Prairie Partners, conducted a large, region-wide study of bird drowning in livestock watering tanks and the effectiveness of wildlife escape ladders compared to a flotation device (a board) that landowners usually put in tanks, while other tanks had no escape device. Landowners then recorded the number of times they visited each respective tank, along with the number and species of all drowned birds. Analyses of the results show that the presence of a wildlife escape ladder decreases the likelihood of drowning, and that lower water level increases the likelihood of drowning. Water levels greater than one inch below the tank edge are most likely to cause birds to drown, presumably because the birds have to lean forward a greater distance to drink or because there is too great of a distance for them to escape once they have fallen in. In addition, we found that other flotation devices (wooden fence posts, etc.) increase the likelihood of bird drowning, which is in direct contrast to what landowners had originally believed. Click here to see the full report.
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