# [Ars] Bird deaths down 70 percent after painting wind turbine blades



## Space Lynx (Aug 26, 2020)

Source:  https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-turbines-helps-prevent-bird-massacres/

this is freaking awesome news. and I am surprised if it was this simple they didn't figure it out to begin with?  now we need to get to painting boys!


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## Rei (Aug 26, 2020)

I dunno... The study/observation seems a bit less conclusive with a hit-n-miss results. It maybe a bit more expensive but why not paint all the blades black for better results?
Nonetheless, as someone who enjoys watching golden eagles living & nesting over the barren countryside where I live, even if we are nowhere near any sort of wind turbine generator, its still good news.
Will such method also work on airplanes with turbines to reduce bird-strikes as well?


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## Space Lynx (Aug 26, 2020)

Rei said:


> I dunno... The study/observation seems a bit less conclusive with a hit-n-miss results. It maybe a bit more expensive but why not paint all the blades black for better results?
> Nonetheless, as someone who enjoys watching golden eagles living & nesting over the barren countryside where I live, even if we are nowhere near any sort of wind turbine generator, its still good news.
> Will such method also work on airplanes with turbines to reduce bird-strikes as well?



I am honestly surprised no research has been done on this yet, certain colors work better than others, maybe every other blade does need to be white so the birds can see the contrast of the black?  Like why has no studied this and figured it out, it could be done as a grad school science project fairly easily. I suppose you would need to know some wind turbine workers to locate where in their experience they have found more dead birds than other windmills, and conduct experiments there alternating colors, patterns, etc.

@R-T-B watcha think?


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## Vayra86 (Aug 26, 2020)

Inb4 rainbow colored wind turbines

You know it'll happen, what with inclusiveness and all


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## Rei (Aug 26, 2020)

lynx29 said:


> I am honestly surprised no research has been done on this yet, certain colors work better than others, maybe every other blade does need to be white so the birds can see the contrast of the black?


That actually makes sense. I just also realized that turbines also spins at night as well so there needs to be a lighter color for night-flying birds to see as well, i guess.



lynx29 said:


> Like why has no studied this and figured it out, it could be done as a grad school science project fairly easily. I suppose you would need to know some wind turbine workers to locate where in their experience they have found more dead birds than other windmills, and conduct experiments there alternating colors, patterns, etc.


Maybe sometimes the simplest of solution is considered an underestimated solution that would hardly cross intellectual minds.



lynx29 said:


> @R-T-B watcha think?


Off-topic: Wait, we can call others who have yet to participate in a thread? Neat... I dunno if I'll ever use this feature though.



Vayra86 said:


> Inb4 rainbow colored wind turbines
> 
> You know it'll happen, what with inclusiveness and all


I dunno if that is such a good idea. Spinning multicolored blades could cause even an idle eye dizziness & possibly eye-strain. It may or may not confuse birds as well, causing them to unconsciously swerve into the blades.


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## R-T-B (Aug 26, 2020)

lynx29 said:


> @R-T-B watcha think?



I like birds.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Aug 26, 2020)

R-T-B said:


> I like birds.



feathered or two legged?


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## mtcn77 (Aug 26, 2020)

lynx29 said:


> I am honestly surprised no research has been done on this


There has.


lynx29 said:


> maybe every other blade does need to be white so the birds can see the contrast of the black?


Birds' eyes are adapted. They cannot see lateral objects pretty clearly, only vertical stripes.


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## R-T-B (Aug 26, 2020)

tigger said:


> feathered or two legged?



Are there four legged unfeathered ones or something?

I thought those were called "dogs."  You humans are so confusing.


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## dorsetknob (Aug 26, 2020)

R-T-B said:


> Are there four legged unfeathered ones or something?


 Identical Twins    (i'll get my coat on the way out)


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## xtreemchaos (Aug 26, 2020)

as a bird lover "well any animal really including humans and fish" its the best news ive heard in a longtime, ive a happy feeling all day . thanks. ps ive been downstairs and told my african grays and jaspher says "so what" and jazzie says "whats that f--k off" thay live a sheltered life


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## R-T-B (Aug 26, 2020)

I remember my uncle had a parrot who knew precisely two phrases:

"Gimme that!"

and when denied; "Come here you little shit!"

He was a hoot when he wasn't trying to steal whatever you were eating.


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## xtreemchaos (Aug 26, 2020)

one of ours Jazzie "female" talks all the time loud and cusses quite a bit which she gets from the tv because me and the misses dont use words like she dos Jaspher "male" whisphers quite well but only talks when spoken to . both are good at intercepting food from the plate to the mouth


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## Rei (Aug 26, 2020)

R-T-B said:


> I remember my uncle had a parrot who knew precisely two phrases:
> 
> "Gimme that!"
> 
> ...


Which reminds me... I distinctly remember meeting a parrot or a parakeet or somethin, & it told me that it had sex with my mother... who was already dead... So it was screwing a corpse?!?
Also, way to tell a pre-teenage kid something so inappropriate.
Good times...


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## the54thvoid (Aug 26, 2020)

Science forum, people.

OP is about wind-turbines and avian collisions.



mtcn77 said:


> There has.
> 
> Birds' eyes are adapted. They cannot see lateral objects pretty clearly, only vertical stripes.



Source? How, for example do they manage to land on telegraph wires (which are horizontal)? From what I can see, birds have poorer contrast detection, so a white blade moving against a grey sky would be difficult to distinguish (as lynx29 suggested). Pigeons have been shown to poorly process occluded objects, so, unlike us, they can't 'predict' what happens to an object that disappears behind cover.

But unable to see laterally? Doesn't make sense - laterally is a sideways plane of movement, not a shape. And they can see more than vertical stripes. Trees, horizontal branches, and almost every single perch they land on.


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## Caring1 (Aug 26, 2020)

the54thvoid said:


> Science forum, people.
> 
> OP is about wind-turbines and avian collisions.
> 
> ...


True, their range of vision is greater than the human eye, so perhaps the answer is RGB as they see light on a different spectrum.


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## R-T-B (Aug 26, 2020)

the54thvoid said:


> Science forum, people



I am sorry.  I was asked my thoughts.  Sadly on this, I only can say I do appreciate birds surviving.  That is good.  That's about all I got.  I know little of their eye structure or how bad wind turbines really hurt their population.

I am running a little on empty after swapping mobos again, so sorry I'm not doing better than that.

I also do find parrots and birds in general fascinating for their mimicry, but that's OT even if very scientific.


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## ThrashZone (Aug 26, 2020)

Hi,
About time.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Aug 26, 2020)

lynx29 said:


> Source:  https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-turbines-helps-prevent-bird-massacres/
> 
> this is freaking awesome news. and I am surprised if it was this simple they didn't figure it out to begin with?  now we need to get to painting boys!


I'm glad you said that, F#£@&Ng geniuses ,so a windmill painted to blend in kills more birds than one that stands out, where can I get such a ! scientists! Job.


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## John Naylor (Aug 26, 2020)

If it's a matter of contrast or colot there would be no universal solution.   It would appear that most commenters didn't actually read the article ...* it's NOT that changing the blades from white to black accomplished something*, it's that *painting ONE of THREE blades accomplished something**.* The genius is not in changing the color ... the genius is understanding the concept of "visual disruption."

The eyes of most living things are particularly sensitive to movement .... so in a large field of spinning objects the proximate one gets "lost" in the pattern.  It looks like everything else.   Our eyes also play ticks on us.  Think of a custom wheel on a car or bike, as it passes by, it often appears as if it is not rotating or even going backwards.  The key here, one would expect, is not the color at all ... it is the disturbance of the pattern.     Having ONE black blade and TWO white blades .... where the black blade is at 12:00 o'clock on one it will be 12:25 on the next one, 12:52 on the next one .... this makes the closer structures "stand out" from the surrounding pattern.

And it must be understood that bird deaths from power line collisions are 100 times greater than deaths from wind turbines.  From the study, at a small wind  farm (40m blades)  ... bird deaths averaged 0.75 bird deaths per turbine per year [18 birds / ( 6 years x 4 turbines)] .    The control group had 0.29 deaths per turbine per year deaths [7 x  / ( 6 years x 4 turbines)].  There is no explanation about what was difference  between the two groups that resulted in the test group having 2.59 times more deaths.

Test Group = (18 birds  / ( 6 years x 4 turbines)] = 0.75 deaths per year
Control Group = 7birds  / (3 years x 4 turbines)] = 0.29  deaths per year

The original test group has one blade painted black ... and the test period was 3 years:

Test Group = (6 birds  / ( 3 years x 4 turbines)] = 0.5 deaths per year
Control Group = (18 birds  / ( 3 years x 4 turbines)] = 1.5 deaths per year

The 71.9% conclusion ?????   Bogus  ?

The test group went from 0.75 deaths per year to to 0.50 deaths per year ... a 33% reduction
The control group went from 0.29 deaths per year to to 1.50 deaths per year ... a 417% increase

Now an argument could be made that the last 3 years had an increase in bird population .  If  the control group had an increase from 7 to 18 (2.57 times). the  ... again the argument could be made, ... the the original test group would have lost 46 birds.  By losing only 6 the calculation would be an 87% reduction.  The problem ...

What was different about the control group that made it different than the test group over the 1st 6 years ?
Was temperature, visibility, bird population, changes in migratory patterns and dates, factored in ?
The small sample size is not statistically significant
Why did the control group have 2.57  more deaths in the 2nd test when it was only half as long ?
Were the test and control groups situated the same geographically " What was it that during spring and autumn, fewer bird deaths were recorded at the painted turbines. But in summer, bird deaths actually increased at the painted turbines ?

Obviously, while the study brings up some interesting conclusions, it is by no means a sound basis for policy changes.  The data is simply not statistically reliable.  It's not much better tahn any of the alleged COVID 19 treatments ... at least here, they had a control group.

The only conclusion that can be drawn here is that a larger more detailed study isd worth doing


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## phanbuey (Aug 26, 2020)

Nine year study to figure out if painting something a more visible / less reflective color stops animals from accidentally running into it...


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 26, 2020)

I mean isnt it really the circle of life??  (or the circle of death if youre a bird)

The blades karate chop a bird or two and they get eaten by whatever lives underneath or around the wind turbine -- Its free real estate

Now an entire ecosystem is going to be destroyed because there will be no more freebies to munch on.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Aug 26, 2020)

I was once putting a small wind generator on a road sign , a woman living opposite came out to moan about my work on this road safety sign.
She said , It's an eyesore, my view was amazing

I said It was ruined when someone built a village here.

A Pigeon faceplanted into my kitchen window in front of me a few weeks ago , weird bit , without the glass he would have nose dived my face?.

They're not bright.


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## mtcn77 (Aug 26, 2020)

the54thvoid said:


> Source?


I saw it on discovery channel. It was a documentary on crows. It is related to conservation of energy, eye size and skull diameter. I didn't forget it, but it was way past for me to recall the exact one.

PS: the study was very replicable, also. They painted a room, in the shape of a tunnel, with black stripes and let the birds through. When the stripes were vertical, birds kept hesitant like they were going to impact a tree. They don't see 3D very clearly, imo. That was the message, afaik.



the54thvoid said:


> Pigeons have been shown to poorly process occluded objects, so, unlike us, they can't 'predict' what happens to an object that disappears behind cover.


I know of that study, that is an adaptation of the bird brain anatomy, too. Don't dismiss the bird brain, though. Mathematicians are of the opinion that such adaptation works best when resolving 'chance' probabilistic analysis. They don't think to do it, but for that brain size, a higher probabilistic predictive rate than a human is a great feat. Humans have anchoring bias.








						Monty Hall problem - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				






John Naylor said:


> Our eyes also play ticks on us.


That is very much the case. We don't see what our eyes see. Our vision is what signals persists on our ganglionic cells which overlap their receptors between one another. It is very much like a low pass filter. Only motion picture passes through, so our optic system with our bigger brain size with more nerve cells isn't reading the full raw image as well.


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## Space Lynx (Aug 27, 2020)

John Naylor said:


> If it's a matter of contrast or colot there would be no universal solution.   It would appear that most commenters didn't actually read the article ...* it's NOT that changing the blades from white to black accomplished something*, it's that *painting ONE of THREE blades accomplished something**.* The genius is not in changing the color ... the genius is understanding the concept of "visual disruption."
> 
> The eyes of most living things are particularly sensitive to movement .... so in a large field of spinning objects the proximate one gets "lost" in the pattern.  It looks like everything else.   Our eyes also play ticks on us.  Think of a custom wheel on a car or bike, as it passes by, it often appears as if it is not rotating or even going backwards.  The key here, one would expect, is not the color at all ... it is the disturbance of the pattern.     Having ONE black blade and TWO white blades .... where the black blade is at 12:00 o'clock on one it will be 12:25 on the next one, 12:52 on the next one .... this makes the closer structures "stand out" from the surrounding pattern.
> 
> ...




My only point is there are so many variables, I do wonder if more tests can be done, such as perhaps does a wind turbine in x location affect y species of bird more than other birds, like mallards see yellow more intensely than other birds. So if x group of windmills is reported by windmill technicians to y certain species death, could those in that location have a single prop painted a very bright yellow to warn them? I doubt a mallard wants to fly near a moving object it sees so vibrantly and largely. I am sure other species of birds see other colors differently too.

I hope this gets proper funding and study someday, also not just color, but don't birds see through different lenses altogether, like I think I read some can even see UV light. so maybe paint one prop that will glow with a solar panel near the windmill projecting UV light on to said windmill, if x study proves that y species of bird that sees said UV light dies in less numbers.

I don't think the paint color is a single stroke victory for all windmills, I think it will have to be targeted species focused. Maybe that study only shows certain birds vision being disrupted by the single black propeller, but would that also apply to a mallard or another species of bird?  It's interesting none the less imo

as far as study issues go, I would just say it probably has to do to with lack of funding. if it was properly scaled and done it would be interesting imo


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 27, 2020)

I’m curious why this is an issue that needed a nine- year study. One would think that birds who live around wind turbines would learn “big fan bad” eventually.

See, birds and animals the world over learn to do things or cope wirh outside influence that others of their exact species elsewhere do not know. These behaviors become part of the behavior of only the local population and get passed down through generations.

There are scores of studies on this, but let me give a non-scientific and purely observational bird example from my area. For 22 years I commuted the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge to and from New Orleans. The Brown Pelicans there have learned to do something over the last 50 years since they were reintroduced to our area (They were nearly extinct at one point).

Lines of them, and sometimes only one will glide, 10 feet above the bridge, just a couple feet from the edge of the roadway facing oncoming traffic. They effortlessly ride for hours with wings outstretched and never flapping.  Sometimes they make a minor correction while scanning the water below for fish, but never move forward (only taking any action when they see fish below that they want and dive in). In effect they hunt for their food with zero effort since learning to use the moving air created by vehicles that constantly rush toward them.

This is a behavior I have not observed anywhere else along the U.S. Gulf Coast.  Here there is a constant flow of traffic that they can make use of.  And it is learned by their young.

I have no proof, but I would imagine the first Pelicans that encountered the causeway did not fare well. Probably more than a few got too close to vehicles. I also speculate that if you were to take outside pelicans from another population, they would need to be taught by the ones here .


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## mtcn77 (Aug 27, 2020)

rtwjunkie said:


> One would think that birds who live around wind turbines would learn “big fan bad” eventually.


There are studies that memories are inherited vertically by the male phenotype, but you have to consider, epigenetics only work for the successfully inherited. A nonstereotypical chopping board is not something you can transmit when your lifecycle is based on thermal currents that humans happened to interrupt with some huge rotating flowers.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 27, 2020)

mtcn77 said:


> There are studies that memories are inherited vertically by the male phenotype, but you have to consider, epigenetics only work for the successfully inherited. A nonstereotypical chopping board is not something you can transmit when your lifecycle is based on thermal currents that humans happened to interrupt with some huge rotating flowers.


True, but read the rest of what I wrote. It illustrates that point perfectly. Those that dont get chopped up love to teach and pass it on, just like the pelicans here learned “trucks bad, only get THIS close” after early ones got smashed into windshields or had wings broken.


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## mtcn77 (Aug 27, 2020)

rtwjunkie said:


> True, but read the rest of what I wrote. It illustrates that point perfectly. Those that dont get chopped up love to teach and pass it on, just like the pelicans here learned “trucks bad, only get THIS close” after early ones got smashed into windshields or had wings broken.


You see, you point out the issue yourself. Bridges don't make them adapt to surrounding dangers, they still hover above them. Birds are like that. They teem above things. It is their natural habitat. Not windmills.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 27, 2020)

mtcn77 said:


> You see, you point out the issue yourself. Bridges don't make them adapt to surrounding dangers, they still hover above them. Birds are like that. They teem above things. It is their natural habitat. Not windmills.


Lol, it is not their natural habitat. This bridge didnt exist before 1956 (southbound span) and 1969 (northbound span). And the bridge is not the danger. The vehicles on it are. And I already explained it is a local behavior, only seen here and nowhere else in the Gulf of Mexico region, because only this one has that near continuous stream of traffic.


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## mtcn77 (Aug 27, 2020)

rtwjunkie said:


> Lol, it is not their natural habitat. This bridge didnt exist before 1962. And the bridge is not the danger. The vehicles are. And I already explained it is a local behavior, only seen here and nowhere else in the Gulf of Mexico region, because only this one has that near continuous stream of traffic.


I agree. The point I'm making is what you have stated;



rtwjunkie said:


> Lines of them, and sometimes only one will glide, 10 feet *above* the bridge,


Try and do that with a rotating blade with no ups and downs. It might be under their radar, perhaps they cannot judge the risks as they do only when above...

I wouldn't mind if they were killing the stubby ones, usually it is the skinny ones that have their neck out the most.
We like storks. Our people once picked their side in a bird battle they got caught up with eagles and won. We like picking the winning team, you see...


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## Space Lynx (Aug 18, 2022)

I just read another article recently posted about wind turbines endangering Golden Eagles in the state of Wyoming.









						Golden eagles face double threat as US wind turbines add to climate crisis peril
					

Species at risk of death from collision with proliferating wind power in places like Wyoming but rising temperatures could cut ranges by 40%




					www.theguardian.com
				




Now I can't help but wonder, how come we can't just put mirror streamers at the ends of each turbine blade? My grandpa uses mirror streamers to keep birds away from his garden and it does seem to work. The drag from mirror streamers should have a very minimal effect on the energy produced...

Does anyone know why we don't use streamers again? I may have asked this before, just curious if any new developements.

Also, why don't we build taller wind turbines? Doesn't it get more windy the higher you go or am I mistaken? I suppose the answer is simple though... just economically unviable to build such tall structures as they get more and more complicated the taller they get. Still, maybe in some special locations they could do this, if its a bird migration zone or something.


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## defaultluser (Aug 18, 2022)

CallandorWoT said:


> I just read another article recently posted about wind turbines endangering Golden Eagles in the state of Wyoming.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Maybe they need a lot longer visible range  to let the beers see the giant chopper?  You cant just put blinkenllights on  it, and assume the birds will act like airline pilots.



CallandorWoT said:


> Also, why don't we build taller wind turbines? Doesn't it get more windy the higher you go or am I mistaken? I suppose the answer is simple though... just economically unviable to build such tall structures as they get more and more complicated the taller they get. Still, maybe in some special locations they could do this, if its a bird migration zone or something.




That's already happened - when you see huge trains of masts on the highways, you can quite realize how massive the things have become .









						Wind Turbines: the Bigger, the Better
					

Since the early 2000s, wind turbines have grown in size—in both height and blade lengths—and generate more energy. What’s driving this growth? Let’s take a closer look.




					www.energy.gov
				




But birds still fly much higher than that mast (but does reduce the amount of deaths of birds congregating bear the ground.)


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## Space Lynx (Aug 18, 2022)

defaultluser said:


> You cant just put blinkenllights on  it, and assume the birds will act like airline pilots.




There are proven and effective ways for discouraging bird flight in certain areas, like the mirrorlike streamers that blow in the wind, but you are correct those would not work at night I expect.  Also, I am not saying i have the answers, just would be interesting to see more research into the area. Maybe you could have solar panel mini spot lights on each windmill that light up the mirrorlike streamers even at night? I don't know lol


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## INSTG8R (Aug 18, 2022)

I’m literally surrounded by wind turbines and I’ve walked around most of them and you know what is the most popular encounter I have? Cows and their “leavings”. I have never seen a single bird corpse and I’m talking dozens of turbines. 
Do I deny they are dangerous to birds and yes making turbines safer is absolutely important? nope of course they should. I’m just saying from someone who lives next to them I see more birds as roadkill…


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## Space Lynx (Aug 18, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> I’m literally surrounded by wind turbines and I’ve walked around most of them and you know what is the most popular encounter I have? Cows and their “leavings”. I have never seen a single bird corpse and I’m talking dozens of turbines.
> Do I deny they are dangerous to birds and yes making turbines safer is absolutely important? nope of course they should. I’m just saying from someone who lives next to them I see more birds as roadkill…



Yeah, studies can be misleading, all depends on the parameters of which a study is conducted, which most of the time isn't shared with the reader. This may not even be a problem at all, that Guardian article I linked was just posted two days ago though... still I know what you are saying, I never seen any problems myself. It might only be in migration zones though? I don't know.


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## INSTG8R (Aug 19, 2022)

CallandorWoT said:


> Yeah, studies can be misleading, all depends on the parameters of which a study is conducted, which most of the time isn't shared with the reader. This may not even be a problem at all, that Guardian article I linked was just posted two days ago though... still I know what you are saying, I never seen any problems myself. It might only be in migration zones though? I don't know.


I mean ironically Norwegians hate them because they mess up “nature” i on the other love the contrast of tech and nature and well Norway is energy independent because of wind and water power so I never quite get their i point. 
I mean I live in that little cluster of homes and my horizon is wind turbines. I actually need to take some fresh pics because they’ve added another farm to the west of thst one


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## Space Lynx (Aug 19, 2022)

I think windmills are aesthetically pleasing, they represent the future, and it sure as hell beats a coal power plant.


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## Mussels (Aug 19, 2022)

CallandorWoT said:


> Source:  https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-turbines-helps-prevent-bird-massacres/
> 
> this is freaking awesome news. and I am surprised if it was this simple they didn't figure it out to begin with?  now we need to get to painting boys!


Paint them back, quick! We all know birds are government spy drones!

Wind farms are pretty good as far as renewable energy goes. Designs seem to be reliably improving over time too, for cost, maintenance and local impact


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## joemama (Aug 19, 2022)

Mayby add some RGB lighting to it, birds will definitely spot them lol

OK, seriously, the research isn't very conclusive due to the small sample size. Since the death numbers are pretty low, like 1~2 kills each year per turbine, I don't think it's worth changing though.
They should have started the research from the bird's vision spectrum since birds are known to also see UV light. This would help them select a more effective paint towards birds' view.


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## Bomby569 (Aug 19, 2022)

"Previous laboratory studies have suggested that birds may not be very good at seeing obstructions while they're flying"

if these birds have some sort of vision impairment, myopia, cataracts, etc... it's only natural selection.   

I really don't believe birds that have so many flying predators have a hard time spotting a moving target at eye level. What do they do when a falcon or an eagle comes at them?


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## Ferrum Master (Aug 19, 2022)

Calm down, just a bullshit article... Turbines are fitted with countermeasures already including studies about it... not only birds but bats too... like the _EUROBATS _guidelines. no philosophy needed here.



			https://dtbird.com


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## WonkoTheSaneUK (Aug 19, 2022)

So... Who's going to apply for a grant to study if painting cats cuts down on bird deaths?


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## INSTG8R (Aug 19, 2022)

WonkoTheSaneUK said:


> So... Who's going to apply for a grant to study if painting cats cuts down on bird deaths?


Now this is something that needs to be taken seriously!


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## Space Lynx (Aug 19, 2022)

You are correct, that is probably, actually I am certain, that is the bigger issue is the cats killing birds issue. I had forgotten about that actually. It's honestly kind of scary when you look at the numbers and how many cats have killed birds over the years, the loss of nitrogen from bird poop is really hurting the health of the planets plants, etc. At least from the brief amount of stuff I have read on it. I guess that ends this topic, in a good way though, thank you for reminding me of this Wonko. I guess there is nothing to do but just go with the flow and hope the world gets better. 


WonkoTheSaneUK said:


> So... Who's going to apply for a grant to study if painting cats cuts down on bird deaths?


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## Vayra86 (Aug 19, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> I’m literally surrounded by wind turbines and I’ve walked around most of them and you know what is the most popular encounter I have? Cows and their “leavings”. I have never seen a single bird corpse and I’m talking dozens of turbines.
> Do I deny they are dangerous to birds and yes making turbines safer is absolutely important? nope of course they should. I’m just saying from someone who lives next to them I see more birds as roadkill…


Sure but nobody wants a car park full of rainbow colored cars...


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## P4-630 (Aug 19, 2022)

In Germany they paint them like this:





Red warning signs for birds.


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## Bomby569 (Aug 20, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> I’m literally surrounded by wind turbines and I’ve walked around most of them and you know what is the most popular encounter I have? Cows and their “leavings”. I have never seen a single bird corpse and I’m talking dozens of turbines.
> Do I deny they are dangerous to birds and yes making turbines safer is absolutely important? nope of course they should. I’m just saying from someone who lives next to them I see more birds as roadkill…



same for me. But i do take this accounts as serious, so my best guess is not all conditions equal, things like different birds can react differently or something like weather conditions, idk. Anyway i can confirm what you say where i live.

Maybe our birds are smarter


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## qubit (Aug 20, 2022)

Yeah don't even need to read the article to know this is epic.

This has made my morning, thankyou.


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