Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
thedifferentsizesofturbines.Nordoesitconsiderratesatwhichcarcasseswere
either removed by scavengers or missed due to variability in searcher detection.
Importantly, the results are a simple record of detected fatalities. Effort and methods
used to detect carcasses differed considerably and at the larger of these wind farms
between30and50%ofturbinesweresearched.Thesecaveatshighlighttheneed
forconsistentstandardsinmonitoringofbirdcollisions.Bearingitslimitationsin
mind, I consider that results of the survey still offer some useful general insights
into bird and bat collision mortalities documented at south-eastern Australian wind
farms. The results are provided in Table
1
.
Table 1
Documented wind turbine collision fatalities of all bird and bat taxa and percentage that
each taxon represents of the total for eight wind farms in south-eastern Australia
Percentageof
all documented
fatalities
Documented
fatalities
Common name
Species name
Littleeagle
Hieraaetus morphnoides
2
2
Wedge-tailed eagle
Aquila audax
8
6
Brownfalcon
Falco berigora
15
12
Swamp harrier
Circus approximans
9
7
Nankeenkestrel
Falco cenchroides
19
15
Whistling kite
Haliastur sphenurus
2
2
Southern boobook
Ninox novaeseelandiae
1
1
Hoary-headed grebe
Poliocephalus
poliocephalus
1
1
Australian shelduck
Tadorna tadornoides
1
1
Grey teal
Anas gracilis
1
1
Straw-necked ibis
Threskiornis spinicollis
1
1
Cockatoo/corella species
Cacatua spp.
1
1
Littlebuttonquail
Turnix velox
1
1
Silver gull
Chroicocephalus
novaehollandiae
3
2
Common diving petrel
Pelecanoides urinatrix
1
1
Fairy prion
Pachyptila turtur
1
1
Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo
Chalcites basalis
1
1
Dusky woodswallow
Artamus cyanopterus
1
1
Eurasian skylark
Alauda arvensis
1
1
White-throated needletail
Hirundapus caudacutus
1
1
Ravenspecies
Corvus spp.
7
6
Magpie-lark
Grallina cyanoleuca
1
1
Australian magpie
Cracticus tibicen
31
24
Welcome swallow
Hirundo neoxena
1
1
White-striped freetail bat
Nyctinomus australis
10
8
Lesserlong-earedbat
Nyctophilus geoffroyi
1
1
Chocolate wattled bat
Chalinolobus morio
2
2
Gould's wattled bat
Chalinolobus gouldii
3
2
