Do wind turbines pose a threat to birds?
While once a serious issue, two decades of experience have made the wind energy industry more sophisticated in the design of wind energy facilities. While older metal frame towers lent themselves to avian nesting, solid fiberglass, cylindrical towers eliminate this problem. While older facilities failed to do environmental assessment reports for nesting grounds and migratory flight paths, these studies are conducted today as a standard practice in wind energy facility evaluation and construction. The end result is that an average 1.5 MW wind turbine, large enough to power approximately 500 homes annually, causes 1.7 avian fatalities per year, according to a 2003 study of the Stateline Wind Energy Facility conducted by WEST Inc. and Northwest Wildlife Consultants.
