Myth-busting study claims wind farms have little impact on bird life

The planned expansion of the UK's onshore wind energy capacity was given a boost yesterday with the publication of new research suggesting that wind farms located on farm land have less of an impact on local birdlife than previously feared.

The study from a team of researchers at Newcastle University assessed two wind farms on the East Anglian fens and found that they posed little threat to farmland birds in the area.

The researchers recorded almost 3,000 birds from 23 different species and found that the turbines had no effect on the distribution of seed-eating birds, crows, game birds and Eurasian skylarks. Common pheasants were the only birds whose distribution was affected by the turbines.

Dr Mark Whittingham, who led the research team, said that the study represented the "first evidence suggesting that the present and future location of large numbers of wind turbines on European farmland is unlikely to have detrimental effects on farmland birds".

He added that with concerns over the effect on birdlife, one of the common causes of opposition to new wind farms the results should be welcomed by nature conservationists, wind energy companies and policy makers.

Nick Medic of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) welcomed the research, adding that it backed up many of the wind industry's own findings.

"We've been saying this for some time, there is now plenty of research out there comprehensively debunking the myth that turbines are a major threat to bird life," he said, adding that in some circumstance the presence of a wind farm could even help protect wild life by effectively providing a guarantee that the surrounding area will not be subjected to other forms of development.

Medic also argued that while turbines had led to some bird fatalities in the past the actual numbers involved were "negligible" compared to bird deaths caused by cars or other forms of transport. "Of course, no creature being killed should be glossed over, but the wind industry's impact is minimal compared to other more harmful projects."

However, a spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said that while the study's findings were welcome, significantly more research needed to be done to understand the full impact of wind farm developments on bird life.

"It is a good start, but it is a relatively small study and it only looks at farmland birds," she said. "There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that turbines are dangerous to birds and we need more research into their effects."