Premium
Nocturnal migrants do not incur higher collision risk at wind turbines than diurnally active species
Author(s) -
Welcker Jorg,
Liesenjohann Monique,
Blew Jan,
Nehls Georg,
Grünkorn Thomas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/ibi.12456
Subject(s) - nocturnal , collision , flyway , radar , geography , wind power , wind speed , situated , environmental science , meteorology , ecology , computer science , biology , habitat , telecommunications , computer security , artificial intelligence
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.