Some of the best environmental impact studies are out of Europe, which is a natural consequence of the large number of wind farms that have been installed there. One excellent piece of research is
Desholm & Kahlert, Biology Letters, 2005You can find links to that and more at Desholm's website:
http://www2.dmu.dk/1_Om_DMU/2_afdelinger/3_vibi/medarbejdere2_en.asp?PersonID=mdeThe work I referred you to has a terrific graphic of the cumulative radar recorded flight paths of birds as they fly through and around the wind farm.
It is also worth noting that since most of the avian mortality associated with wind farms is a result of the birds hitting the towers and not the blades; you might want to read your USA Today source with an eye to sensationalism and depth.
Don't get me wrong - there have been some tragic mistakes in siting of some early wind farms, most notably Altamont Pass in California. However, for many years now the environmental impact studies have required an evaluation of the avian impacts and the early mistakes have been largely avoided since. The notable exception being the bat killings in WVa.
The current stance of the Audubon Society
Acknowledging the important potential of wind power (as well as other renewable energy sources) to combat the threat of global warming to the survival of bird species throughout the western hemisphere does not mean we are providing a blanket endorsement. Every wind power proposal demands thorough case-by-case analysis of both its benefits and impact, and how that lines up against the potential widespread harm from global warming. Questions including project design and site location must be carefully considered. Audubon encourages ongoing research and collaboration to best determine how to maximize the benefits of wind power while reducing the potential for harm to birds, wildlife and the environment. Specific projects that pose too great a risk should be modified, moved, or, in some cases, stopped entirely.
http://www.audubon.org/campaign/windPowerQA.htmlAlso found this from a while back. It provides a few more details than the original post.
US: November 7, 2007
US Considers Bird-Friendly Communications Towers
WASHINGTON - The US Federal Communications Commission drew praise from a wildlife conservation group on Monday for considering a plan to make communications towers less deadly for migrating birds.
The current lighting and support wires on some towers that carry broadcast and mobile phone signals kill up to 50 million migratory birds a year in the United States, said Darin Schroeder of the American Bird Conservancy.
"The birds that are being killed aren't just your common sparrows," Schroeder said by telephone, after the FCC agreed to seek comment on the tower plan. "These are Baltimore Orioles and Cerulean Warblers, birds that we really need to actively protect.
"If we can find a solution, as simple as changing the lights on a tower, I think everyone wants to see that happen," he said. "We're hopeful that a rule will be developed."
The commission agreed on Friday to seek comment on how much communications towers affect migrating birds and various issues related to ways to keep birds from crashing into them. It was unclear how quickly the commission might act.
"The FCC can work very rapidly, as it did in the Janet Jackson case," Schroeder said, referring to the singer's televised bare breast at the Super Bowl in February 2004. Fines were proposed in September of that year against some stations that aired the broadcast.
"On this issue, it has taken a number of years," he said. "We're hoping that this will be done really soon."
The American Bird Conservancy, Forest Conservation Council and Friends of the Earth filed suit against the commission in 2002, charging that fewer birds would be killed if the FCC would mandate safety measures for communications towers.
These include: putting antennas on existing structures rather than building new ones; building towers less than 200 feet (60 metres) tall to avoid the requirement that they be lighted so aircraft can see them; using red or white strobe lights on towers over 200 feet instead of solid state or slow pulsing lights; avoiding the use of guy-wires, which extend at an angle from the ground to support the towers.
Most bird kills involving communications towers occur during fall and spring when night-migrating birds are attracted to the aviation safety lights on the towers, the conservancy said in a statement.
Red solid-state or slow pulsing lights interfere with the birds' celestial navigation cues, especially when it is rainy or foggy, and so the birds keep circling the towers, crashing into one another, or the tower or its guy-wires or the ground. Some simply drop from exhaustion, the conservancy said.
A report by the conservancy analyzing documented kills found 230 species -- over one-third of all bird species found in the United States -- known to be killed by towers.
Story by Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
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