Hawaii Pushes Up Digital TV Transition to Save Its Birds

Hawaii will transition to digital television on Jan. 15, a month ahead of the rest of the nation, out of consideration for its birds. The logic is this: The Hawaiian Petrel nests in February and would likely be disrupted by the destruction of the analog transmission towers if the DTV transition were to take place […]

Hawaiianpetrel
Hawaii will transition to digital television on Jan. 15, a month ahead of the rest of the nation, out of consideration for its birds.

The logic is this: The Hawaiian Petrel nests in February and would likely be disrupted by the destruction of the analog transmission towers if the DTV transition were to take place on Feb. 17, as planned.

Ultimately, though, the birds may benefit from the removal of the analog towers since they occasionally interfere with the petrel's flight.

"It'll be much better for the birds," Cathleen Bailey, a biologist at Haleakala
National Park, told the Associated Press.

Photo: Flickr/entropy