In the context of the deteriorating global environment and the huge impact of the greenhouse effect, countries have started to seek new energy sources.


As a new clean energy source, wind energy is very popular in all countries. Wind power is not only environmentally friendly but also generates a lot of electricity.


But some biologists recently said wind power harms birds, especially large "raptors". It is said that every year, a large number of "bird domination" died under wind turbine fan blade strangulation.


By comparing the data of birds hitting wind turbines, we found that raptors accounted for 54.3% of the deaths.


For example, at Altamont Pass, a wind farm in the United States, more than 80 golden eagles and even more vultures, about 400, die in a year because they hit wind turbines.


A research institute in India has also published reports of wind turbines strangling large raptors, causing ecological disruption and the loss of natural predators such as lizards and rats to proliferate.


Why do these raptors, which are so responsive when hunting, die one after another under the turbine?


First, there is a strong relationship between birds hitting wind turbines and themselves. Vultures, golden eagles, and eagles need to use the updraft of the terrain to lift themselves when they fly.


The height of a wind turbine is usually around 120m, while birds fly at around 300m, and large raptors can fly even higher, so the chance of them hitting the turbine blades is not very high.


However, due to the flight mechanism, their size, and daily low-flying predation, they will often hit the wind turbine.


In the case of migrating birds, the birds usually fly for a long time and their altitude drops, making it easier for them to hit the turbine.


In windy, foggy, or rainy weather, birds will reduce their flight altitude, and the chance of colliding with turbine blades will increase.


At night, birds are attracted by strong light sources and therefore hit the wind turbine.


Most of the power plants only consider whether the wind is sufficient and whether the environment is open, which is the economic aspect of wind power generation, but do not consider the local bird habitat, so the wind turbine is often built in a dense bird area.


Moreover, some birds will nest inside the fan blades of the wind turbine, and they are not alerted when the wind turbine suddenly starts, so they die.


According to statistics, in a wind farm in California, the number of waterfowl hitting the power lines in just one day can reach 200.


Therefore, scientists suggest that when selecting sites for wind farms and building wind turbines, it is important to understand the habitat of local birds in advance and to scientifically select sites to avoid conflicts between wind power and bird habitats.