BLADE RUNNERS
A new study in the Baltic Sea shows that offshore windfarms are dangerously attractive to migrating raptors.
Little is known about the risk of bird collisions with turbine blades. Many seabirds don’t fly high enough to be threatened, but others – gannets, for example – are more vulnerable.
There is also concern for soaring migrants such as raptors and storks, which tend to island-hop across large expanses of water. Are they similarly drawn to windfarms?
Using radar to track raptors migrating between Denmark and Germany, biologists led by Henrik Skov, senior ecologist at Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) in Denmark, have shown that they are inclined to alter their flightpaths towards the turbines.
Skov told BBC Wildlife that there are three options for mitigating the collision risk.
“Deter the raptors when approaching the windfarm; close down part, or the entire, windfarm as raptors approach, or take migration corridors into consideration at the planning stage.”