Bats, far more than birds, are falling victim to wind turbines, a US team seeks to find out why

 Wednesday, 09 November 2011
Dan McCue

Bats have been a misunderstood and widely persecuted species for almost long as there has been a recorded human history. As a result, bat mortality at wind energy facilities was a largely unanticipated phenomenon.

However as wind farms are built with increasing frequency, bat deaths at these facilities is becoming a more prominent concern. This is particularly true in the US, Canada and Europe where wind energy facilities have been associated with an unprecedented rise in bat deaths.

While it was once thought that the wildlife impacts of wind energy facilities would primarily effect birds, researchers have found that in reallity bat fatalities significantly outnumber bird deaths at most wind energy facilities studied.

 Renewable Energy Magazine.com