My turn to get into this discussion. 1. Wind energy is an admirable technology to pursue. 2. Wind turbines do kill some birds, possibly fewer per tower than are killed by well-lit skyscrapers or cell phone towers. 3. The proposed breeding bird study was probably inadequate. 4. Breeding birds are not really the issue. Most of the song birds will stay well below the towers during breeding season and will probably adapt to the presence of the towers, as if they were giant trees moving in the wind. Higher flying birds larger birds might have collisions. The problem really lies with night migration where the birds do not see the turbines. That's when birds are most likely to collide with towers and propellers. The bird study should have been of migration at several seasons. 5. Very extensive research has been done on the effect of wind turbines on migrating birds at the Heligoland Bird Observatory in Germany. Germany is planning to cover vast areas of the North Sea with wind farms and to that end Heligoland has been studying migration patterns through the area for years. The researchers there have also looked into proposed wind farms on the southerly side of the Strait of Gibralter, noting the relationship of migration to natural ridges (favored for wind farms) and valleys. 6. As a result of the German studies, towers have been located to minimize collision courses and provide avian passageways, without sacrificing power output.
Go on line and read reports from Heligoland. Bob Gochfeld Brooklyn -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
