In a recent article in The Toledo Blade (2/09/2023) titled, Ohio Court Asked to Halt Wind Farm, the focus was on the attempt to block the building of a wind farm in Erie and Huron counties. The wind farm is 30 miles from the Magee Marsh bird sanctuary.
The Ohio Power Siting Board has approved the building of the wind farm proposed by Firelands Wind (F.W.). The Oak Harbor-based Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) opposes it. F.W. has done studies showing that the wind project has little negative impact on birds. BSBO says that the wind turbines will kill too many birds and that not enough studies have been carried out.
There have certainly been a lot of bird deaths in recent decades. According to Kenneth Rosenberg, a Cornell University conservation scientist, the North American bird population was 10.1 billion strong in 1975 but has fallen 29 percent to approximately 7.2 billion birds.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wild Life Service, as of 2017, U.S. bird deaths are caused by:
– Collision with building glass – 599,000,000
– Collision with communication towers – 6,600,000
– Collision with electrical lines – 25,500,000
– Collision with motor vehicles – 214,500,000
– Poison – 72,000,000
– Cats – 2,400,000,000
– Wind Turbines – 1,000,000*
While wind turbines do kill a significant number of birds, including soaring and birds of prey, the number, compared to other causes of bird deaths, is small. In North America, the probability of a bird being killed by a wind turbine is approximately two deaths for every 7,000 birds.
The hard reality is that some endangered birds fly into the turbines with tragic results.
The leading cause of bird deaths, however, is climate change. According to Gary Langham, Chief Scientist for Audubon, climate change threatens almost 50% of birds in the United States. If climate change continues at its current rate, many bird species will disappear.
Audubon’s national Birds and Climate Change Report reviewed data covering Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states. Of the 588 species studied, 314 are at risk from climate change impacts.
Each bird species is finely tuned to a specific set of conditions. Therefore, when the environment changes due to climate change, or development, it can be very challenging for the birds who need to adapt or move to more welcoming environments.
Suppose the birds need to relocate to find suitable conditions. In that case, they may run into predators and other bird species competing with them.
We want to keep the number of birds killed to a minimum. So, by using more wind than fossil energy, we decrease the amount of greenhouse gas going into the atmosphere and slow the progress of climate change – which is suitable for most birds.
Sierra Club*
5 Responses
Well documented points about other causes of bird mortality. Lets get the right perspective here. just look again at the number of deaths by cats compared to turbines. ummmm 2,400 to 1!
I think birders are justifiably concerned. Do they own ( or allow to roam outdoors) their cats?
point about climate is valid.
there are methods built into the Lake Erie project that substantially reduce bird mortality. Its simple. monitor the migration by radar and automatically shut off the turbine during heavy migration. That fix is already in the proposal. Thats whay Fish and Wildlife approved the plan.
Another way to make turbines safer is to paint one of the blades black.
Good report! You would think there is an inaudible sound the towers could make or an infrared or visual signage only bird can see -but we cannot that would also help prevent bird flight accidents.
One blade of the turbine could also be painted black making it easier for the birds to see.
I wish people cared as much about the well being of the 9 billion chickens that live in the U.S. as they do the wild birds.
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