Nocturnal migrants do not incur higher collision risk at wind turbines than diurnally active species

Abstract

Nocturnally migrating birds, particularly passerines, are known to be vulnerable to collision with man‐made structures such as buildings, towers or offshore platforms, yet information with respect to wind farms is ambiguous. We recorded bird flight intensities using radar during autumn migration at four wind farms situated within a major migration flyway in northern Germany and simultaneously conducted systematic searches for collision fatalities at the same sites. We found that migration traffic rates at rotor height estimated by radar observations were significantly higher during the night, yet strictly nocturnal migrants constituted only 8.6% of all fatalities at the wind farms. In contrast to the situation at other vertical structures, nocturnal migrants do not have a higher risk of collision with wind energy facilities than do diurnally active species, but rather appear to circumvent collision more effectively.

Methods to quantify avian airspace use in relation to wind energy development

“…Welcker et al . 2017) or optimal sensor conditions (e.g. Brookes 2009, Cleasby et al .…”

“…Poessel et al 2018) or to restrict the data to within a certain range of the sensor (e.g. Welcker et al 2017) or optimal sensor conditions (e.g. Brookes 2009, Cleasby et al 2015; however, such an approach may reduce the amount of potentially viable data for the consenting process.…”

Analytical volume model for optimized spatial radar bat detection in onshore wind parks

“…Analytic description of electromagnetic radiation has been around for more than a half century [18,19]. So far, most studies presented where mainly carried out by ornithologists utilizing radar technology for the detection of birds [14,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Only a few radar studies have been published investigating more complex shapes such as bats [2,4,23,29,30].…”