Nylon twine ensnares Montana ospreys, too

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2007:
MISSOULA–Nylon baling twine similar to the kite strings that
wreak havoc among the birds of India and Pakistan also kills ospreys
in Montana, say Ken Wolff of the Grounded Eagle Found-ation, in
Condon, and Rob Domenech, executive director of the Raptor View
Research Institute, in Missoula.
Nylon baling twine isn’t coated with crushed glass, and the
ospreys are not flying into it by accident, but the
non-bio-degradable twine is none-theless deadly, Wolff and Domenech
in February 2007 told Perry Backus of the Missoulian.
“Ospreys seem to go out of their way to pick it up for their
nests,” Dom-enech observed. “It’s so strong that once they get
tangled up in it, they’re doomed.”

Domenich, Wolff, and others studying the problem with them in
the Missoula Valley found nylon baling twine in more than 95% of the
ospreys’ nests they located.
“I’ve looked at nests of Swainson’s hawks, red-tailed hawks,
and even bald eagles,” Domenech said. “I have not found any baling
twine in any of their nests. This problem seems to be specific to
ospreys.
“It might be the bright orange color that attracts them to it,”
Domenech guessed. “We really don’t know. All we know for sure is
that every year we have mortality.”
Reported Backus, “This spring a group of Hellgate High School
biology students will put together a study to see if color has
anything to do with ospreys’ attraction to baling twine.”