Click on picture to enlarge
Raptors are attracted to wind turbines
Wind turbines offer great perching opportunities for birds of prey. From up there, they have commanding views of open spaces colonized by graminae, which attract prey such as mice, voles, rabbits, partridges, grouse etc. , or of bodies of water where fish are swimming.
First, they perch on still blades:
Altamont Pass: red-tailed hawk perched on top blade.
Click on picture to enlarge
Better resolution picture here: http://iberica2000.org/documents/eolica/photos/blade_perching.jpg
Then they perch on nacelles or other parts:
Better resolution picture here: http://iberica2000.org/documents/eolica/photos/red_tailed_hawk_perched_on_nacelle.jpg
Then they may try to build a nest:
In this case a pair of ospreys succeeded because this turbine at Cape Vincent, NY, was mothballed.
Click on picture to enlarge
For better resolution picture, ask save.the.eagles@gmail.com
Then they perch when the blades are moving:
See this video of a turkey vulture:
http://savetheeaglesinternational.org/vultures-killed-videos.html
This perilous perching often ends up in loss of life.
But they also get struck while looking for prey or carrion below the turbines:
See this VIDEO of a griffon vulture on Crete island: http://savetheeaglesinternational.org/vulture-struck-by-wind-turbine.html
CONCLUSION: ornithologists hired by wind farm developers are misrepresenting the facts when they say that raptors “avoid” wind farms, or “are displaced” by them, or even sometimes “get used to them”. The truth is that they are ATTRACTED, then KILLED by wind turbines. California’s very large Altamont Pass windfarm, for instance, kills about 1300 raptors a year, of which 116 golden eagles on average – source: “Developing Methods to Reduce Bird Mortality In the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area” (pages 73 & 74, table 3-11, last column: “adjusted for search detection and scavenging”) – Dr. S.Smallwood et al. (2004). And no, Altamont Pass is no exception. Raptors are being killed by wind farms all over the world.
Would so many be killed if they “avoided” or “were displaced by” or “got used to ” wind turbines?
In another study, Dr. Smallwood noted that raptor flew close to wind turbines more often than they would by chance: “Smallwood and Thelander (2004, 2005) reported that raptors fly disproportionately close to wind turbines, flying within 50 meters of wind turbines between seven and ten times more often than expected by chance. ” See: Annex (A) to “Scottish government, European Commission guilty of ecological vandalism”
So did this study of raptors migrating over water: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4054530/Wind-farms-DEADLY-birds-prey-Migrating-raptors-attracted-turbines-potential-landing-spots.html
AS A RESULT, MANY RAPTORS GET STRUCK BY THE BLADES:
Some of the eagles killed by wind turbines (tip of the iceberg)
http://www.iberica2000.org/es/Articulo.asp?Id=3071 – Last updated in 2006
Some of the ospreys killed by wind turbines (tip of the iceberg)
http://savetheeaglesinternational.org/new/843-2.html
Effects on red kites
http://rapaces.lpo.fr/sites/default/files/milan-royal/63/actesmilan150.pdf (pages 96, 97).
MORE: see our main webpage, at www.savetheeaglesinternational.org
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I’m sure “environmentalists” will be angry when they hear about this! No, not really, they’ll regard them as a necessary sacrifice to the idiot’s god of wind energy.
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By: christopher swift (@wyatt99) on 22/07/2013
at 1:25 pm
[…] Les rapaces sont attirés par les éoliennes. ↩ […]
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By: Éoliennes, sauve-planète ou piège écologique ? | Contrepoints on 31/07/2013
at 7:32 am
[…] – Pictures showing that raptors are attracted to wind turbines, thus putting their lives at risk: https://savetheeagles.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/raptors-attracted-to-windfarms-2/ […]
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By: Letters asking Massachusetts Audubon Society to not build a wind turbine in the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary « Save Our SeaShore on 26/08/2013
at 4:56 am
[…] https://savetheeagles.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/raptors-attracted-to-windfarms-2/ […]
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By: Allegheny Highlands Alliance comments on new Eagle “take” permits. | Allegheny Treasures on 23/12/2013
at 2:18 am
Thank you for all the work you are doing on behalf of these magnificent birds! I’m very grateful for the opportunity to your site as reference for my opposition to the construction of massive wind farms in Mid-Wales – an area currently inhabited by Red Kites
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By: Rosemary Hart on 27/03/2014
at 9:26 am
[…] (pages 97, 98, 99). (7) – https://savetheeagles.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/raptors-attracted-to-windfarms-2/ (8) – […]
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By: Le grand carnage | Conseil mondial pour la Nature on 27/04/2015
at 9:42 am
[…] pages 10–18 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715001408 (15) – –https://savetheeagles.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/raptors-attracted-to-windfarms-2/ (16) – The Shame of Scotland: http://www.iberica2000.org/es/Articulo.asp?Id=3426 See […]
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By: Covering up the massacre | World Council for Nature on 15/05/2015
at 7:52 am
[…] pages 10–18 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715001408 (15) – –https://savetheeagles.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/raptors-attracted-to-windfarms-2/ (16) – The Shame of Scotland:http://www.iberica2000.org/es/Articulo.asp?Id=3426 See –> ” […]
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By: The Horrific Slaughter of Birds, Even Endangers Species, is Hidden by the Wind Industry. | "Mothers Against Wind Turbines™" Phoenix Rising… on 17/05/2015
at 8:15 pm
[…] to wind turbines. See: Biodiversity Alert Save the Eagles International showed pictures of raptors perched on wind turbines. There is even one of an osprey’s nest built on top of a decommissioned nacelle (above). […]
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By: Scotland: one kill they could not hide | Save the Eagles International on 02/06/2016
at 9:17 am
Just thought of this, Have the turbines produce ultra low frequency sound. This kind of sound causes discomfort for most animals. Maybe the birds will stay away. If this actually works, I hereby release the idea to public domain.
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By: Bing Bang on 03/07/2016
at 9:05 am
What about the neighbors, many of them have their homes no further than 1800 feet away from the turbines?
And the cattle that pasture underneath, and the field workers, the maintenance people, etc.
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By: WCFN on 12/10/2016
at 9:33 pm
[…] figure, so the reality could be even worse. It’s also a good indication that, as revealed by Save the Eagles International, raptors are attracted to wind turbines (and then killed). But don’t be surprised that, in […]
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By: ajmarciniak on 13/09/2016
at 8:53 am
[…] figure, so the reality could be even worse. It’s also a good indication that, as revealed by Save the Eagles International, raptors are attracted to wind turbines (and then killed). But don’t be surprised that, in spite […]
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By: Covering up bird mortality at wind farms. Mark Duchamp | "Mothers Against Wind Turbines™" Phoenix Rising… on 14/09/2016
at 8:21 pm
[…] figure, so the reality could be even worse. It’s also a good indication that, as revealed by Save the Eagles International, raptors are attracted to wind turbines (and then killed). But don’t be surprised that, in spite […]
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By: Covering Up Bird Mortality At Wind Farms | Natural History Wanderings on 04/10/2016
at 2:01 pm
[…] the Eagles International (STEI) has posted photographs of raptors perched on nacelles or nonmoving blades , and ospreys building a nest on a decommissioned turbine. Moving blades don’t deter them either: […]
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By: Wind turbines are actually slaughtering millions of birds and bats annually – Windmills Kill on 03/03/2017
at 11:52 pm
They pretend to have solved the problem–Colorado is issuing raptor kill permits to the wind farms making it “legal”–typical liberal solution. 50 million people dead from malaria because of DDT being bannned to save the same raptors that are being killed in larger # by windmills.
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By: Daniel Mannix on 31/03/2017
at 8:03 pm
[…] son rapaces protegidas, atraídas por los aerogeneradores: se posan encima para acechar sus presas: ver las fotos. Además, buscan aves y murciélagos que caen heridas o muertas al pié de los molinos. Las aspas […]
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By: Masacre de buitres y milanos | PLASENCIA LIBRE on 06/04/2017
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[…] son rapaces protegidas, atraídas por los aerogeneradores: se posan encima para acechar sus presas: ver las fotos. Además, buscan aves y murciélagos que caen heridas o muertas al pié de los molinos. Las aspas […]
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By: Plasencia en Común on 03/03/2018
at 12:16 pm
[…] not maintained or increased. At this juncture, it is important to keep in mind that raptors are attracted to wind turbines, which increases their chances of being killed. Egyptian Vulture: a bird that uses tools – […]
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By: Wind farms bring the Egyptian vulture to near-extinction in Andalusia | ajmarciniak on 08/04/2018
at 3:16 pm
[…] Image from Save the Eagles International […]
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By: Wednesday, September 23, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Nature on Tap: A Mighty Wind – Offshore Wind and Birds – The Garden Club of the Back Bay on 15/09/2020
at 2:47 pm