Onshore wind turbines are providing an “alarming” threat to Scotland’s endangered birds of prey, new research has warned.
Some 33 raptors, including ospreys, golden eagles and peregrine falcons, have been killed as a result of collisions with onshore wind turbines in Scotland since 2019.
NatureScot, which compiles the records, confirmed the figures are not a “comprehensive record of bird collisions with wind turbines” and that collecting figures for offshore wind farms also provides “significant methodological challenges”.
But Scottish Renewables says the Scottish Government’s NatureScot agency advises that well-sited wind farms have limited effects on birds.
Two hen harriers died as a result of wind-farm collisions in 2020. The species is currently on the RSPB’s Red List as its population is in critical decline.
Details from NatureScot show that 2019 was one of the worst years for wind-farm bird collisions with 12 deaths overall, including five ospreys and one white-tailed sea eagle which were found dead on wind-farm sites in the Highlands, Sutherland and Orkney.
Both species are currently on the RSPB’s Amber List, which means their conservation status is regarded as a moderate concern.
Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain, who has been pushing for details of the fatalities, said the figures might only be the “tip of the iceberg” given the difficulties of collecting accurate and full information on wind-farm collisions at both onshore and offshore sites. Read more: https://www.heraldscotland.com/…/23224495.wind…/
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