CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- ComEd is installing what are being called bird-diverters on power lines in Morraine Hills State Park in McHenry following the deaths of birds.
Last month we reported on the rescue of a Pelican that had irreparable damage to a wing after it was believed to have flown into a power line in the park.
"The rescue was amazing, because he was swimming through the marsh, and ultimately one of the officers waded through the the reeds in order to get to the pelican," said Dawn Keller of Flint Creek Wildlife Rescue.
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The pelican was couldn’t be saved; and Keller later learned another pelican died there, as did some swans and other birds.
She reached out to ComEd and a representative said they’d assess the lines running through the marsh.
On Thursday, a crew used a helicopter to install bird diverters on the power lines running through a marsh at Morraine Hills State Park. The diverters are supposed to make the lines more visible to birds and prevent collisions.
"It looks like a large pig tail. I don't know how else to explain it expect it looks like a swirly - it's actually called a swan diverter..." said Sara Race, Principal Environmental Program Manager at ComEd.
Reporter: And it hangs off the line and that's enough for the birds to see it and presumably avoid the line?
"Yes, yes it makes the line more visible. We put it on the static wire which is thinner than our actual cable, because birds can usually see the cable itself and they usually collide into the static because they can't see it," Race said.
She said ComEd has been doing this for about 10 years reactively and proactively in places where bird collisions are more likely to occur.