Sheril KirshenbaumJul 23, 2023

In the U.S., recent annual estimates of bird deaths due to:

Cats = 2.4 billion bird deaths

Collisions from building glass = 600 million bird deaths

Land wind turbines = <200,000 bird deaths

Some politicians claim wind turbines “kill all the birds.”

But… they’re not really worried about birds. Rather, they prefer we stick with oil & gas over renewable #energy.

https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/15195/wind-turbines-are-not-killing-fields-for-birds/ #climatechange

Infographic: What Is Killing U.S. Birds?

This chart shows the estimated range of annual human-caused bird deaths in the U.S., by source.

Statista Daily Data
Show threadSheril KirshenbaumJul 23, 2023

Popping on the visualization (also linked above) bc there were a few questions about the data.

This chart displays the US Fish & Wildlife estimates of annual bird mortality in the U.S. from several human causes. /2

Show threadSvend WaldorffJul 23, 2023
@Sheril while agreeing with the basic premise (wind turbines kill a suprisinglow number of birds) I do wonder if we are ignoring the "quality" when we just look at the quantity. I would imagine that cats mainly catch small, very common birds (sparrows, etc) while the wind turbines may kill a larger proportion of the bigger and more endagered species (birds of prey and the like).
Would be nice if there are numbers to back me up or prove me wrong.
Show threadNonya Bidniss 🥥🌴Jul 23, 2023
@swaldorff @Sheril An interesting question
Show threadSvend Waldorff
@Nonya_Bidniss @Sheril
Some interesting solution proposals:
Make the rubines more visible to birds:
https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/03/01/stripy-wind-turbines-could-reduce-seabird-fatalities-say-avian-vision-experts
Or swiutch them off when a (big, valuable) bird approaches (either detecting the transponder endagered specias carry or using a radar+AI system)
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2018/how-new-technology-making-wind-farms-safer-birds
Could stripy wind turbines help to save birds from their blades?

We need to see like birds in order to protect them, say the ornithologists suggesting a ‘simple’ redesign.

euronews
Jul 23, 2023 at 3:57pmWeb
Show threadMarcJul 23, 2023
@swaldorff @Nonya_Bidniss @Sheril Or you could add #AI to wind turbines, and if that causes a problem, find a tech solution to control the AI which controls bird deaths. https://www.identiflight.com/how-it-works-2
How It Works — IdentiFlight - Bird Detection System

IdentiFlight’s bird detection technology combines high performance camera optics with the latest in machine vision and artificial intelligence software. Our system provides species classification allowing Wind farm operators to decide in real time whether or not to target curtailment, aiding in the

IdentiFlight - Bird Detection System