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Are wind turbines really that bad for birds?
Easy Answer: Yes. Somewhere between 58,000 and 440,000 birds each year die because of wind turbines.
Wind farms continue to spring up, as people look for alternative energy sources. I recently
did a story about the Terra-Gen wind farm in the Mojave desert, one of the largest in the world. The problem with wind turbines is they are super good at killing birds--especially migratory songbirds. But are we really talking about enough birds to worry about?
I wrote to a bird expert named Albert Manville at the Fish and Wildlife Service to find out. I asked him how the number of birds killed by wind turbines compares to the number killed by windows, cats and cars compares. (According to a publication from the Fish and Wildlife Service, cats might kill 100s of millions of birds a year.)
This is what he told me.
"Comparing bird deaths from wind turbine collisions and barotrauma to other sources of mortality -- e.g., building windows, vehicles, cats, or communication towers -- is akin to trying to compare apples to kumquats. It confuses and muddies the waters. The bigger issue is one of cumulative impacts, specifically what mortality factor will become the proverbial "straw that breaks the camel's back." Will it be wind energy, new building windows, oil spills, or another source(s)? We simply don't know. While wind mortality may presently be relatively low, impacts are all about risk. The blade-caused collision death of 1 Whooping Crane becomes an impact to its entire population."
It's not just the turbine blades that are bad news for birds--wind farms can often disrupt and disturb habitat.
But, there are ways to minimize the problem: "Selecting the most wildlife- and habitat-friendly sites is critically important, and where wind is being developed in high risk areas, collisions could be reduced by blade "feathering" (idling), changes in blade cut-in speeds, setbacks, pylons replacing deadly turbines and other options."
Want more? Here's
on minimizing the number of birds killed by wind turbines.
Photo credit: Flickr user brentdanley.
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The key word here is MIGHT. It's unknown how many birds are killed by cats.
So far there are not that many wind turbines installed in North America.
So what will be the bird kill numbers when thousands of turbines have been installed? Perhaps the USFWS can project the kill numbers for us.
Can't forget the bat kills either.
Believe nothing from the wind industry, especially their Environmental Impact Reports. I am a wildlife biologist and every EIR I have ever seen from this industry has been BOGUS. This is exactly why people have to get organized and reject the propeller style wind turbine.
The industry (Wall Street/Oil) is making billions and they will not move away from these mass killers unless they are forced to.
Across the world organized efforts by concerned citizens are winning battles every day against this industry. They want to put a stop to the millions of birds are slaughtered each year by these turbines. Especially the rare and endangered species. I encourage everyone to research this. If they do, they will find that the industry is corrupt to the core and these turbines have a tremendously negative environmental footprint.
Be wary of anyone that speaks in favor of any wind project because they most likely have major conflicts of interest. These people should have to disclose all connections to the wind industry, especially financial. Today the world is plagued with experts that routinely sell out. Keep in mind any connections to institutions and organizations which receive large grants and donations from the industry. I have been told about large contributions colleges and their staff( funding for bogus studies). I have also been told that the industry has made large contributions to Audubon, Nature conservancy, The Peregrine Fund and other similar groups. .
Then there is the all too convenient silence from State and Federal Wildlife agencies concerning wind farms. Sad to say, they really work for big business. I do know from experience that if you want to know the truth from a government agency you always interview lower level employees because the top brass are put there for a reason.
The Turbine Peddlers Represent Green Fraud...........Message from a Wildlife Biologist
There is growing worldwide opposition the deadly propeller style wind turbine for good reason. There has been a corporate/government cover-up for over 25 years concerning the extreme danger they pose to birds and bats. For those that have not seen it, take a look at the YouTube video “fatal accident with vulture on a windmillâ€. A Griffon Vulture gets smashed out of the sky by the innocent looking blades of a propeller style wind turbine. The wind turbine in the video is spinning at just 12 rpm or about half speed. After seeing this you will understand what is coming to the local and migratory bird populations, all over the world.
In Canada, a recent study of bird and bat mortality at Wolfe Island’s 82-turbine wind farm found 600 birds and more than a thousand bats were killed by the windmill blades in a six-month period.
None of this should come as a surprise. Over the last 25 years in Altamont Pass, more than 2,000 golden eagles have been killed by the blades of the propeller-style wind turbine. The corrupt wind/oil industry (they are one in the same) paid experts to say it was just an aberration and that Altamont was unique. It is a lie.
The corrupt U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is part of this green fraud. They deliberately looked the other way while wind farms were built in the habitat of the condor and whooping crane. They chose not to prosecute many thousands of wind industry violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They even helped write and pass the “No Surprises†clause into federal law, which gives this industry a free pass for killing endangered species. There is no difference between them and the corrupt MMS
The most insidious impact from the use of propeller style wind turbines, is the slaughter of migratory Birds. The negative footprint from wind energy is far greater than the obvious. A perfect example is the Whooping Crane that travels 2500 miles only to be chopped up in the thousands of spinning blades along their migration route. The critically endangered Egyptian Vulture is another migratory victim of these turbines.
Paid off experts fraudulently cite collisions with power lines as being the primary reason. This same fraudulent excuse was given for missing Condors in California. Now the condor is regularly fed at feeding stations far away from the turbines to keep them alive.
Remember this.........when the propeller style wind turbine is introduced into their habitats, it becomes the number one cause of death for rare and endangered bird species. Despite deflective statements from the wind industry, cats, cars, windows, buildings, etc. are not the problem. These mortality factors did not kill off the Red Kite populations that have disappeared from Germany and Italy. The prop wind turbines have killed them off.
At the current rate of wind farm development, dozens of bird species will soon face extinction from this diabolical source of energy. The truth is no bird or bat is safe around a propeller-style wind turbine and the cumulative impacts..... devastating.
Regardless of how many are built, energy from the inefficient propeller style wind turbine will NEVER even come close to solving North America's energy needs. Communities need to be told this before they embrace these killers.
Communities also need to be told that the day is coming when far superior wind turbines, without the flawed deadly propeller design, will be implemented across the world. How long this will take depends on how long the bird/bat mortality lie is perpetuated the wind industry.
Below is factual information covered up by the wind industry and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for over 25 years. This came from a report put together by Ornithologists in Poland. The link for this report is on Poland's Wind Energy web site. To my knowledge it is the only example of the true bird mortality impact ever made public by the wind Industry.
http://www.psew.pl/en/guidelines_for_assessment_of_wind_farms_impact_on_...
4. Development of wind projects is likely to cause:
a. Bird mortality caused by collisions with operating turbines and/or elements
of auxiliary infrastructure, in particular overhead power lines;
b. Decrease in population due to loss and fragmentation of habitats caused
by deterring effect of the wind turbines and/or development of
communication and energy infrastructure related to operations of the wind
turbines,
c. Disturbance to populations, in particular to short- and long - range bird
migrations (the barrier effect).
5. Mortality caused by collisions and loss of habitats are key in terms of likely
adverse effects on birds populations.
6. The extent of effects on bird population is diversified, depending mainly upon
the location of the wind turbines – from almost no or negligible effects on life
expectancy of bird population, to significant effects with significant loss of
habitats and high mortality caused by collisions.
Most people are not aware that Europe has sustained large declines in both local and migratory bird populations over the last 20 years. These declines coincide with the installation of tens of thousands of propeller style wind turbines.
WEIGAND, thank you for your articule, concise and accurate critique on this topic.
Far too many people buy into this charade and don't have a clue. Yes, wind power IS providing jobs, and at great expense to the U.S. taxpayer. Unbelievably, there are still a notable number of people who think turbines coming to their neighborhood will provide them with "free electricity" or lower their bills. They are sadly mininformed. When the first turbine goes up in their locale (IF they are not a host) is when they have their first "HOLY S**T!!!" moment but by then it is far too late.
The wind industry PAYS for the bird/bat studies, so can we really expect the results to not be skewed?? If you are not in the business, I defy most people to interpret the "published" study results. It's so easy to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. They meet the permitting requirements by arranging for PRE-constructions studies, but whatever you do, don't ask them for POST-construction studies because their lawyers will yell, jump all over you and accuse you of being anti-wind. Oh yes, indeed, they have hiding the truth from the public down to a fine science and should not be trusted. Have a problem with turbine noise-related issues? They will laugh at you and tell you it's because YOU never wanted turbines to begin with! Yes indeedy, they are among the slickest snake oil sales people on the planet.
Let's just insist on a better, efficient design and most of the criticisms and bad "stuff" associated with wind development might go away.
Thanks again for your input. Your comments should be required reading for all municipalites and residents who even consider allowing wind power.
How odd. My response with a referenced study on anthropogenic bird mortality comparisons which indicates <0.01% attributable to wind turbines disappears. Anti-wind turbine comments don't disappear.
What could this imply? Let's see if this comment doesn't cut the mustard.
Cheers,
Mike
In the state of Wisconsin, the turbine related bat kills are the second highest in North America according to three post construction mortality studies which report kill rates of 41 bats per turbine per year.
The national average is 4 bat kills per turbine.
There has been no reaction to this news from the state, environmental groups or the media.
The Wisconsin bat-kill numbers can be confirmed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Copies of the post construction mortality reports are public record and can be found at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin website.
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