February 12, 2013
Blogs, England

Barn owl confirmed killed by wind turbine- they said such a thing could not happen

February 9th, 2013 | raptorpolitics.org.uk

At the beginning of 2013 a Barn owl which had been rung in the Eden Valley in East Cumbria was reported as being killed near Kirkbride in North Cumbria by a wind turbine.

This was the first record of a Barn Owl being killed by a small wind turbine anywhere in the UK. The ringing information is presently being processed by the BTO and it is assumed that the record will be documented in the ‘Birds of Cumbria’ annual report for this year, but will not be published until 2014/15.

Many Environmental assessments written for wind farms suggest that Barn Owls would not be affected by wind farms in this country even though there are records from Canada of Barn Owls being killed by turbines.

Significantly therefor this new record would appear to probe the so called experts wrong, undermining the conclusions of the Environmental Assessments which had claimed the barn owl was at no risk from wind turbines in this country. This record is now undeniable proof that the barn owl is at just as much a risk of being killed by a turbine as all the other birds of prey in the UK.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/12/barn-owl-confirmed-killed-by-wind-turbine-they-said-such-a-thing-could-not-happen/