Where it all began.

---

One evening, while on duty as a Journeyman Electric Troubleman for Arizona’s leading utility, I received a call that would change more than just my shift. A bird had become entangled in the power lines near the Rancho Mañana golf course in Cave Creek, a familiar reminder of how our desert wildlife and electrical infrastructure often share the same space. What I found that night would ultimately inspire the creation of the Bird Buddy project.

When I arrived, the sun was setting behind the New River mountains, painting the sky in gold and violet. I could see the overhead power lines stretching across the property, but at first, no sign of any bird. Then, as I rounded the side of the house, I saw it, a large adult Great Horned Owl, hanging upside down, its talons locked tightly around an aluminum wire. At the base of the wooden pole stood an elderly woman, her silver hair glowing in the fading light. We stood together in silence, staring upward.

“This is horrible,” she said softly.

“I’ll get it down,” I told her.

I climbed the pole using my safety belt and gaffs, carrying a fiberglass hot stick, a wire-cutting pole. The owl had taken the full force of a 7,200-volt contact. One wing was nearly disintegrated, its talons still clenched around the line. In its beak was a small pack rat—the meal it never got to finish. I cut the wire just above the talons and let the bird fall to the ground. The woman turned away, shaken by the sound and the sight. I promised her I would bury the owl in the desert and return to remove the remaining talons once they had dried, making it easier and safer to clear the wire.

Before I left, she asked quietly, “Do you have to do this often?”

“Weekly,” I admitted. “Especially the Harris Hawks. And I’m just one of fourteen Troublemen in this district.”

A few days later, during my shift briefing, my supervisor looked across his desk and said, “Looks like you made quite an impression on someone.”

That “someone” turned out to be the same woman from that evening, a member of the National Audubon Society. She had reached out to local officials, wildlife rescue organizations, and utility representatives. A community meeting was scheduled to address what could be done to prevent these needless deaths. I was asked to attend.

That meeting—held at the Cave Creek Town Hall—marked the beginning of a collaboration between utilities, wildlife advocates, and local government. After months of discussion and field observations, a solution began to take shape. A representative from Liberty Wildlife suggested installing perches on the top of poles, allowing birds to land safely without contacting energized equipment.

Our first attempt was simple: we built ’T-top’ perches out of 2x4s from the local hardware store. But the birds avoided them; the square edges weren’t comfortable or natural. Liberty Wildlife’s experts guided us: “Make them like the ones we use.” And so, with a little creativity and craftsmanship, we redesigned the perch—rounder, smoother, higher. The first Bird Buddy prototype was built from grape-stake wood by a local woodworker friend of mine.

When I returned to his shop weeks later, two entire walls were covered in perches. “How many did they order?” I asked.

“One hundred,” he said, grinning.

That was nearly thirty years ago. I eventually moved into management and eventually into regional supervision in the same area I once patrolled. Before I retired, I was asked to review a work order for a ‘bird perch rebuild’. When I suggested ordering more perches, my administrator looked at me and said, “They don’t make them anymore—your friend Dave moved out of state.”

That’s when I decided: when I retire, I’ll fix this problem once and for all.

After retirement, I founded Kimco Solutions, dedicated to modernizing that original idea. Over three years and 684 design iterations later, the new Bird Buddy was born, crafted with modern 3D-printing technology using ASA, an organic, bio-degradable, compostable, UV-resistant, and water-resistant material. The design is modular, so damaged parts can be replaced easily without removing the entire perch. The unit comes in a compact package making it easily transported in a truck bin. The perch can be placed easily by one worker where it is safe to do so. 

Today, installations of Bird Buddy perches, past and present have dramatically reduced avian fatalities in our service areas—virtually eliminating them on poles where perches are installed.

That Great Horned Owl—and the kind woman who cared enough to speak up—set everything in motion. Decades later, I believe she’d be proud to know her voice helped spark an idea that continues to protect Arizona’s majestic raptors and preserve the delicate balance between nature and the grid.