# Crispy fried birds?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 18, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504 "2001-03-18T21:37:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/1 "2001-03-18T21:37:16Z")

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Why aren’t birds electricuted when they land on electric lines?

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**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/2 "2001-03-18T22:39:46Z")

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IIRC, it is because they aren’t grounded to anything.

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**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/3 "2001-03-18T22:52:00Z")

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Large birds are often electrocuted when their wings contact two lines at the same time. Electrocution is a major cause of the California Condor’s demise.

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/4 "2001-03-19T00:06:29Z")

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Demise? I thought the California Condor was only Endangered, not out-and-out Extinct.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/5 "2001-03-19T00:45:09Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Sidebar: Upon release into the wild, condors raised in propagation facilities sometimes show behavior threatening to their survival. In a sense, they no longer know how to act as wild animals. The greatest threats these birds face in the environment are people and their structures–specifically, power lines and poles. Condor releases in California during the early 1990’s were hampered by an electrocution and four collisions with power lines. Early in 1995, a program to teach condors to avoid power poles was initiated at the Los Angeles Zoo. Power pole aversion training was accomplished by constructing an electrified mock power pole in the large flight pen holding young condors scheduled for release to the wild. This pole was designed to give the condors that landed on it a mild but uncomfortable electrical shock. Natural tree snags were placed in the flight pen to reward the condors that perched on them with a positive experience–no shock. To date, the aversion training appears to have been a big success.

From [here](http://endangered.fws.gov/esb/96/condors.html)

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**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crispy-fried-birds/58504/6 "2001-03-19T01:11:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by tracer \*  
> \*\*Demise? I thought the California Condor was only Endangered, not out-and-out Extinct. \*\*

You are exactly right **tracer**. What I meant was demise of individuals, not the species. My comment was poorly worded.