[BCNnet] Sun-Times article: Bird Watchers Comfortable
(with 10new wind turbines in Chicago)
Steve Bailey
sdbailey at inhs.uiuc.edu
Tue Jan 24 19:35:18 CST 2006
Hi all,
Although Donnie makes some very valid points, that still does not
negate the potentiality that a lot of birds could loose their lives if wind
turbines are placed atop tall buildings along the Chicago
lakefront. Although what relatively few studies that have been done have
found relatively few bird deaths, i imagine that it all has to do with the
siting of the turbines. The wind farm near Paw Paw in north-central
Illinois seems to have been sited pretty well, as it is in a pretty wide
open area, off any flyway of any significance, and the turbines are pretty
much in the middle of ag fields, probably the most depauparate of all
habitats in Illinois. I actually pulled off the interstate (I-39) to look
at this "farm" a year or two ago.
However, placing the turbines atop some of the tallest buildings
in downtown Chicago could be a BIG mistake, given that this is a relatively
major flyway. And if Illinois is not on a migratory bird flyway, than
there have been a lot of preeminent ornithologists in this state that
didn't know what they were talking about! For those that don't think
Illinois is on a major flyway, they should check out Dr. Frank Bellrose's
classic "Ducks, Geese, and swans of North America". Although waterfowl
would likely not be affected by such wind turbines as they usually fly
pretty high-up during migration, passerines follow some of the same "lines
of flight". Did nobody pay any attention to the many radar images that
were produced and shown in various venues (including in the Chicago area)
by former U of I graduate student Rob Diehl? His images showed large
mushrooms of migrants that would literally "explode" from around the
Chicagoland area at night during migration, including right along the
Chicago lakefront. Many birds were also shown to be out over the lake,
then reconnoitering back to dry land in Chicago lakefront parks and further
inland to forest preserves. Many of these birds would wind up coming in
low in the morning, especially in fall when fog and other climatic
conditions associated with the different temperatures of the air over the
lake as opposed to dry land, cause birds to fly much lower than normal,
either because of fog or other visibility problems. I think all of this
has been observed by most Chicagoland birders who have birded lakefront
parks, and the consequences of even having buildings with lights in such a
location is exactly why there is now bird collision monitors helping the
injured birds that hit the windows of these buildings. Of course many more
often die, and are never seen because gulls and other scavengers devour
them within the first couple of hours in the morning, or they are cleaned
off sidewalks by building maintenance personel. It seems to me this is one
of the worst places that wind turbines could be located, and I am not alone
in my thoughts when I have talked about such a thing with other INHS
scientists. I hope I am wrong, that this is a BIG "accident waiting to
happen" once these turbines are sited on Chicago buildings, which sounds
like it is already a done deal.
One other thing to consider is that in several studies that have
been done, deaths of bats actually outnumber deaths of birds at some of
these turbine farms, and as of yet nobody seems to know why. It is a shame
that there has to all of a sudden be a rush to get wind farms up and
running before enough study has been made of the current wind farms. A
majority of the wind farms that have been studied have been out west, where
passerine migration is a lot different than migration here in the
east. There are not as many strong "pulses' of migrating birds
(represented by lower densities), but instead it is more of a trickle
compared to migration in the east. Also, passerines out west tend to
follow more pronounced topographical features, such as mountains and
valleys. Apples need to be compared with apples, not oranges, and I
personally think that the jury is still out on the effects of these wind
turbines and their affects on migrating birds, especially in areas east of
the Mississippi River where the bulk of neotropical migrants migrate
through. There are a lot of bird species that are headed southeast in fall
and northwest in spring, that find themselves at the bottleneck that is the
Chicagoland, Lake Michigan shoreline. Just one good example is the
Black-throated Blue Warbler which is MUCH more common in the Chicagoland
area than anywhere else in the state. That is because the bulk of this
birds population that breeds to the northwest of Illinois travels around
the south end of Lake Michigan, before fanning out over Wisconsin,
Minnesota, etc. to breeding areas in those states and points
northward. Although the migrant population of the Black-throated Blue
Warbler through Illinois is relatively tiny compared to areas farther to
the east, there are several other species which are much more common, and
are making this same kind of passage around the south end of Lake Michigan,
before turning back northward in spring, and more easterly in fall. This
is not to mention those species simply heading south but are coming from
the north or northeast and are using the western shoreline of Lake
Michigan. Hopefully further studies will be conducted on "eastern" wind
turbine farms before Illinois goes "whole hog" into the wind turbine
industry. There may be some easily made changes in design that could be
made (if they indeed are deadly to numbers of migrant passerines), before
too many farms are sited.
Steve Bailey
Rantoul (Champaign Co.)
sdbailey at mail.inhs.uiuc.edu
Steven D. Bailey
CTAP Ornithologist
Illinois Natural History Survey
1816 South Oak St.
Champaign, Illinois 61820
Phone: 217/244-2174
Fax: 217/ 265-5110
sdbailey at mail.inhs.uiuc.edu
Visit the CTAP homepage and On-line data at http://ctap.inhs.uiuc.edu
Look for on-line INHS biological data at http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu
At 04:08 PM 1/24/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>BCN friends,
>
>
>
>On this issue it s important to recognize that the choice is not wind or
>nothing--our society, even with increased energy efficiency, demands a
>steadily growing supply of electricity. The question we must all ask
>ourselves is: if not wind, then what sources of energy should we use?
>
>
>
>Environmental Impacts of Electricity Sources
>
>
>
>WIND NUCLEAR COAL OIL* NATURAL
>GASWind
>Nuclear Coal Natural Gas
>
>Global Warming
>Pollution None None
> Yes Yes Yes
> YYeses
>YYes
>
>Air
>Pollution None
> None Yes Yes
> LimitedYLes
>Limited
>
>Mercury None
> None Yes
>Yes None
>
>Mining/Extraction None
> Yes Yes Yes
> YesYes
>Yes Yes
>
>Waste
>None Yes Yes
> YesYes Yes None
>
>Habitat
>Impacts Yes
> Limited to
>waste Yes Yes Yes
>
>*Foreign policy considerations are significant.Ye
>
>*to
>YYesesLs LiLLmited
> Yes Yes
>
>According to a paper prepared for the 2002 International Partners in
>Flight conference, of every 10,000 human-related bird deaths in the U.S.
>today, wind plants cause less than one, and if wind power were developed
>to the same extent as hydropower today (6% of U.S. power supply), of every
>10,000 human-related bird deaths in the U.S. today, wind plants would
>cause 9. (Some of this material came from the American Wind Energy
>Association, an obviously biased source but the readers can judge
>yourselves as to its validity as well as what is the more bird-friendly
>energy source).
>
>
>
>But whether you agree or not that wind turbines are a preferred energy
>source, all birders should realize that increasing numbers of wind
>turbines are inevitable. We can stand on the sidelines and rail against
>them, or we can be a positive force in the debate by urging that they be
>properly designed and sited in areas where the least possible bird
>mortality will result.
>
>
>
>Donnie Dann
>
>Highland Park/Lake County
>
>donniebird at yahoo.com
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