Birdlife Australia says climate change is emerging as the greatest threat to Australia’s birds, and advocates for well-designed wind farms to mitigate the impacts on birds.
One study in the US estimated the rate of bird deaths per Gigawatt hour across a range of energy sources and concluded that fossil fuel and nuclear power were responsible for greater bird fatalities than wind power.
It’s a sad reality that birds regularly fly into tall structures, like communication towers, power lines and buildings. There are proven, effective ways for wind farms to live alongside birds, including:
- Spacing wind turbines further apart so that birds have more space and find it easier to navigate through
- Painting turbine blades black or with a pattern can see and distinguish them. A Norwegian study found this can reduce bird collision fatalities by 72%.
Climate destruction is a much greater threat to the survival of all our birds, so the renewable energy generated from wind farms provides a net benefit for our avian friends.