Birds and Bats

Birds and bats can be killed by wind turbines – just as they are threatened by many human activities and means of energy production – with 20,000 to 37,000 bird fatalities attributed to U.S. wind turbines in 2003.  In  comparison, collisions with buildings, power lines, and automobiles cause a total of nearly one billion bird fatalities per year; pesticides account for 67-72 million fatalities per year. Pre-development site evaluation and consideration of migration routes can decrease the risk of a wind farm harming birds and bats. A 2009 study by the National University of Singapore showed that coal power – responsible for mountain top removal coal mining, acid rain pollution, mercury pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change – causes an average of 5.18 avian fatalities per gigawatt hour (GWh). The same study found that wind turbines cause 0.279 fatalities per GWh. Studies of European offshore wind farms have found minimal risks to bird mortality, and in some site-specific cases, wind farms might be expected to have lower impacts offshore than onshore. A study of 1.5 million seabirds migrating at Swedish wind farms reported a 1 in 100,000 mortality risk.

The Massachusetts and Delaware chapters of the Audubon Society have approved specific proposed wind farms off the shores of their states, and, in general, the National Audubon Society supports wind energy projects because it recognizes climate change as a far greater threat to birds, other wildlife, and their habitats. The combined effects of climate change and habitat destruction could leave 950-1800 bird species imperiled by 2100.