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Wind Turbines Killing Endangered Birds

BirdLife Tasmania says wind farms are killing endangered birds, including the Wedge-tailed Eagle, in the move towards renewable energy.


Wind farms might be considered a clean form of energy but the giant turbine blades are proving a hazard to birds, including critically-endangered species, a conservation group warns.

Critically-endangered species are among those being killed, BirdLife Tasmania spokesman Eric Woehler said on Tuesday.

"The blade is sometimes approaching 300 kilometres per hour, so the birds don't recognise that as a threat and don't change their behaviour around them," Dr Woehler told AAP.

"We're building all of these things, and we need to have renewable energy - but it has to be done in such a way to not make things worse for critically endangered species."

Dr Woehler was unable to quantify the bird deaths but said that anecdotally, as more wind farms were emerging, greater numbers of birds were being found dead with blade-strike injuries.

Last year alone, 29 wedge-tailed Eagles died after flying into overhead powerlines associated with Tasmanian wind farms, he added.


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