Wind Power News: Wildlife
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Bats vs. ‘batteries’: Clean-energy project worries biologists
ESSEX COUNTY – In the five years before the iron mine closed for good in 1930, miners hauled 400,000 tons of the world’s finest ore out of Barton Hill. When they left to mine in other Adirondack mountains nearby, Barton Hill’s gutted innards went quiet, got dark and filled with bats. Tens of thousands of bats. The conditions inside the closed mine, its long passages still flowing with air, were perfect for hibernating bats, which need a safe place to hang . . . Complete story »
Energy company to breed endangered California condors to replace birds killed by turbine blades
ROSAMOND, Calif. – They are among the top goals of California environmentalists: preserving endangered species and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy. Yet in the blustery skies above Kern County’s Tehachapi Mountains – where towering wind turbines churn with hypnotic rhythm – renewable energy and wildlife preservation appear to be headed for a disastrous collision. After a decades-long effort to rescue the California condor from the brink of extinction, government officials say the critically endangered vultures are now at risk of being killed . . . Complete story »
Tracked sea eagle dies in fatal collision with wind turbine
A sea eagle that was tagged in De Biesbosch in Zuid-Holland did not survive a collision with the rotor of a wind turbine in Germany. In 2019, the bird, together with ten others, was given a tag to track their behavior and learn more about the areas where sea eagles go and how they survive. The dead sea eagle is the first death in this group, nature website Nature Today reports on Sunday. According to a report on sea eagles . . . Complete story »
Wind farm in Nagle Mountains ‘threatens survival’ of hen harriers
A proposed 22-turbine wind farm in a Cork mountain range known as an “important breeding area” for hen harriers would threaten the birds’ existence, a conservation group has said. The Nagle Mountains supports the equivalent of up to 8 per cent of the species’ estimated breeding population in Ireland. A 2015 study estimated there were up to 157 breeding pairs of the bird, a “strictly protected species” under EU law, in Ireland. Coom Green Energy Park submitted a planning application . . . Complete story »
Pipistrelle bats being slaughtered by giant wind turbines
Bats are being slaughtered by giant wind turbines, warns new research. Pipistrelle bats are much more active around wind farms than other places – putting them at severe risk, say scientists. It appears the animals are attracted to the spinning devices on warm nights like moths to a flame. Scientists do not know why, but think it could have something to do with the machines themselves or the large number of insects flying around in the air. Common pipistrelle bats . . . Complete story »
Four vultures die in Jaisalmer after hitting windmill, wires
JAISALMER: Four vultures died in different incidents in Degrai pasture land in Jaisalmer district on Wednesday. While two Himalayan vultures died after hitting a windmill at Bheeksar, a Himalayan vulture and Egyptian vulture died after hitting high-tension electric wires at Sodhiasar. Last Friday, too, two Egyptian vultures died after hitting high-tension electric wires at Rasla border. Since January, more than 36 migratory and rare birds have died. Around 15 days ago, two cinereous vultures and a Tony eagle had died . . . Complete story »
Common pipistrelle bats attracted to wind turbines
One of the most abundant bats in Europe may be attracted to wind turbines, a new study shows. The activity of common pipistrelle bats was monitored at 23 British wind farms and similar “control” locations close by without turbines. Activity was around a third higher at turbines than at control locations, and two thirds of occasions with high activity were recorded at turbines rather than the controls. The reasons for this are not clear. Possibilities include attraction to the turbines . . . Complete story »
New studies show pronghorn avoid wind turbines. But more work is being done to determine the exact toll and wind development expands.
“We know there is a negative effect, and we would fully expect that to translate that animals don’t eat as much, they don’t put on as much fat, they don’t survive the winter as well and have as many young, all of those are logical,” Kauffman said. “But our methods end up being somewhat crude when we try to connect that to reduced survival or population growth. They’re small incremental changes. And that’s one of the challenges we’re trying to overcome in a six-year study.” Complete story »
Threatened bats found near planned wind farm
Protected long-tailed bats have been found near where the South Island’s biggest wind farm will be built. The Department of Conservation says the discovery at Mt Cass, an hour’s drive north of Christchurch, is significant. “The long-tailed bat’s threat classification is nationally critical and there are only two other known populations on the East Coast of the South Island – near Geraldine and in the Catlins,” acting Mahaanui operations manager Anita Spencer says in an emailed statement. MainPower, a community-owned . . . Complete story »
Over 100 Eagles Could Be Killed By Bluestone Wind Turbines
Over 100 Eagles Could Be Killed By Bluestone Wind Turbines Audubon Society Says These Estimates Too Low Local opposition to the Bluestone Wind Project has included the concern for the number of eagles (Golden and Bald) that will be killed as a result of the wind turbines. Eagles soar high looking down for their prey. As they near the turbines, looking down, they are not aware of the turbine blades that are circling vertically downward and the eagles are chopped . . . Complete story »
