Avian collisions at two wind farms in Tasmania, Australia: taxonomic and ecological characteristics of colliders versus non-colliders

Abstract

Data obtained during carcass and bird utilisation surveys conducted over an approximately 10-year period at two wind farms in northwest Tasmania (Bluff Point Wind Farm [BPWF] and Studland Bay Wind Farm [SBWF]) were compared. Of the species present onsite only 21% at the BPWF and 18% at the SBWF were found to collide with turbines, indicating that presence onsite was a poor indicator of collision risk. Furthermore, there was a poor relationship between abundance onsite and collisions with turbines. A classification and regression tree classified species into the groups that collided or did not collide, based on two classifiers. Specific families/superfamilies and foraging strategies/zones were associated with collision risk and indicated that particular morphological, ecological and behavioural factors were associated with a species' vulnerability to colliding with wind turbines. Future studies should investigate whether the patterns found at these sites are consistent across other habitats and sites.

Keywords:

• birds
• wind farms
• collisions
• collision risk
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The bird utilisation surveys were conducted by Biosis Research, Ecology Partners and Wildspot Consulting, and the carcass searches were conducted by Wildspot Consulting, for which we thank them. We would like to thank Stuart Muir, Stephen Ross and two anonymous referees for comments on the manuscript.