Scots public to report wind farm bird strikes

A NEW system to report potential bird strikes at wind turbines has been launched by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Birds have been killed in recent collisions with wind turbines. Picture: Craig Stephen

Recent high-profile media reports have highlighted cases in which birds have been killed following strikes with wind turbines, such as the white-throated needletailed swift and several raptor collisions.

Now SNH has moved to make the reporting process simpler by creating a new email address – [email protected] – to allow people to pass on information.

SNH is looking for information such as location – grid reference where possible – date, time, weather, the condition of the bird; species (if unknown then a description or photo), and contact details.

Peter Hutchinson – Planning & Renewables Unit Manager (SNH), said: “SNH provides a range of advice and guidance to help assess the impact of wind farms on natural heritage.

“There is a study underway into birds and turbine collisions but it’s not always easy for people to report incidents, so we have set up this email address for people to report collisions.

“We will use the data collected to investigate links between migration routes, nesting sites and other patterns.”