WIND PROTECTING BIRDS

Birds and blades: cutting the losses
Jason Deign, 15 August 2011 (Wind Energy Update)

"Recent data indicates that wind turbines account for just one out of every 10,000 bird deaths…If a turbine is sited on a migration path, however, or on a route used by birds or bats between roosts and feeding sites, it can become a serious cause of wildlife mortality. Moving at speeds in the order of 90 metres a second, rotor tips knock birds out of the air before they can react.

"Bats appear to have even greater trouble with turbines, even though they use echolocation that, in theory, can help them avoid fast-moving objects…[E]xperts believe the sound and pale colour of rotors may attract insects at night, which increases the chances of bat strikes."

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"…Reports published by [the Centre for Sustainable Energy and the American Wind Energy Association] indicate that while turbine bird and bat kills can and do occur anywhere, two wind farm developments in particular have given the industry a bad reputation in this respect…the California Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area…[and two
installations in Spain’s] Campo de Gibraltar mountains have affected bird populations…

"In both cases the turbines involved were older designs which are thought to be harder for birds to avoid, and were sited on obvious avian flight paths. But their impact on the industry has been significant…[because] scaremongering is rarely based on fact…So the message for wind farm operators is that they need to do their homework before selecting a site…"