Birds of prey are often referred to as the overlords of the skies, and there are no animals in the sky that can match them.
As descendants of dinosaurs, birds of prey possess sharp claws and sharp beaks, as well as excellent eyesight that allows them to lock onto their prey at thousands of meters in the air.
Some people may not be clear about the concept of raptors, but in simple terms it is a general term for eagles, falconiformes, and owls.
The common ones are:Eagles, falcons, owlsWait a minute.
With the exception of vultures, almost all birds of prey are predatory birds and play an important role in the ecosystem, maintaining the ecological balance.
On the other hand, due toBird of prey populations are more vulnerable, so many countries will list birds of prey as objects of protection.
But today there may have been some changes, and the birds of prey are no longer the only air dominants, and they are also controlled by wind turbines.
Surprisingly, the mediocre wind turbine ended up becomingRaptors killerand did what other animals couldn't.
According to reports, each wind turbine is capable of strangling 1,300 birds of prey in a year。But how exactly do wind turbines kill birds of prey? Why don't they, with their excellent eyesight, see the dangers of wind turbines?
On the other hand, is the killing of birds of prey by wind turbines a threat to their population?
Will it be necessary to develop wind power technology in the future?
This article will answer these questions from the perspective of wind turbines and the impact of raptor population distribution, and then take a look at the story of wind turbines and birds of prey.
Generally speaking, wind turbines are more common in foreign countries, because wind farms need wind power at the same time, but also need a certain range of area to be able to generate wind power.
Of course, there are also wind power plants in our country, for exampleXinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiangand many other places have wind farms.
Wind farms in Xinjiang.
What most people may not know is that foreign wind farms have had as much of an impact on birds as humans do on oil, but this is quite a negative impact.
Inrelated wind turbine accidents1 in 10 of these accidents are unnatural causes of death in birds and account for all bird deaths
Wind turbine blades can easily kill birds.
Wind turbines in the United StatesKills more than every year573,000 pcsBirds, which include protected species such as bald eagles and vultures.
Incredibly, even bats can die under wind turbines, and it should be easy for bats to identify rotating blades by ultrasound positioning.
Ultrasound positioning failure.
The most powerful thing about a wind turbine is its large rotating blades, which a standard wind turbine blade can use to drive a second of life80 metersspeed to rotate and in the air30 metershigh position to carry out the work.
Therefore, birds that accidentally fall into the trap of wind turbines can be easily killed, and most of the birds that die are generally birds of prey.
Birds of prey strangled to death.
But why is this happening?
Birds of prey have excellent eyesight and excellent flying ability, making them ace pilots in the animal kingdom.
However, the reality is,Birds of prey tend to focus more on the ground when catching their prey, keeping an eye on the ground while ignoring the effects from the air.
In this respect, there may be a little bit of biological evolution, because in the evolution of eagles, there has never been anything as scary as a wind turbine.
No animal has been able to match them for at least thousands of years, so birds of prey that ignore the potential danger are vulnerable to accidents on wind farms.
Wind turbine structure.
On the other hand, the turbine design of wind turbines must take into account kinetic energy, so blades with a larger surface area are preferred for modern wind turbines, whereas in the past, such wind turbines were usually designed to be smaller because they had to take into account the load.
But regardless of the size of the blade,The high-speed rotating blades are difficult for birds to detect, and if they get too close, they may be attracted by the wind
Moreover, the structure of the wind turbine is like a tree, and the external frame structure makes it easy for birds to use them as nests, and birds of prey generally have the habit of building nests at high altitudes.
The stronger the wind, the faster the rotation.
Therefore, once a bird of prey is nesting next to a wind turbine, it is very dangerous for them to fly back and forth.
Taking into account various factors, it has become more common for birds of prey to die from the "hand" of wind turbines.
In addition to wind turbines,Power gridAlso a bird killer.
Generally speaking, many power facilities are built near power grids, and once these grids are electrified, they can easily kill birds if they come into contact with them.
In a 2014 study, researchers counted about 25.5 million birds dying each year as a result of power line collisions.
Another 5.6 million birds have died from direct electrocution, and it is clear that the facilities have had too much impact on birds.
The direct impact of wind turbines on birds is not limited to its strangulation effect, and the entire associated ecosystem may be damaged.
Wind farms require relatively large amounts of land, and supporting development equipment can destroy or otherwise alter habitats.
Wind turbines in the Dakotas have studied this and found that seven of the nine prairie bird species in the area had a displacement effect a year later.
This experiment may not be widely quantified, but it does illustrate the impact of wind farms.
Wind turbine accidents are usually accompanied by investigators.
In addition, the death of birds brings possiblyCollapse of ecosystems
As creatures at the top of the food chain, birds of prey are well positioned to maintain the balance of the ecosystem, and common rodents and lizards are their prey.
However, studies have found that wind farms reduce the number and activity of predatory birds, which leads to an increase in the density of small vertebrates such as lizards on the ground.
Since lizards are less afraid of the threat of small birds in their ecological habits, the pressure on their survival is reduced, which further affects the lower species.
For this kind of problem, many wind farms have been punished for this, especially in foreign countries, there are many animal protection organizations and related associations.
Nearly every farm pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in compensation for the death of birds.
There are many of the same problems in China, but does this mean that wind turbines should be eliminated?
The "least money-worthy" resource on earth may be natural resourcesWind power, hydropower, geothermal and other natural energy sources are the first choice for modern energy manufacturing.
In terms of industrial structure, this type of resourceClean and pollution-freeAt a time when the world is advocating to reduce carbon emissions, it is clear that wind power is the main way to generate electricity in the future.
Looking at global trends, in 2020, wind alone provided 1,600 TWh, accounting for more than 5% of global electricity generation and about 2% of energy consumption. And in terms of wind turbine installed capacity in recent years, China is the main wind turbine installed country.
Wind power generation in different regions.
In addition, in order to achieve it as soon as possibleParis AgreementRegarding the goal of limiting climate change, relevant analysts suggest that wind energy should expand at a faster pace.
In the future, it should increase more than every yearcan alleviate the impediments of fossil fuel reduction.
This may seem like a contradiction with bird conservation, so what can be done?
In fact, people have been trying to find a solution to improve the living environment of birds, and most of the birds that die from the leaves of wind turbines are basically from wind turbines that were developed in earlier years.
The original form of wind turbines is indeed not conducive to the safety of bird flight, and now relevant regulations have been issued in China, requiring wind farms to avoid bird habitats and bird migration routes as much as possible while constructing them.
In addition, in all kinds of large and small wind farms, it must be set asideSafe distance, which is usually a safe distance800 meters
In terms of the layout and model selection of wind turbines, modern wind farms will also be more reasonable in planning, and the use of large-blade wind turbines will reduce the number of wind turbines, reduce the density of wind turbines, and the mortality rate of birds will naturally be reduced, resulting in less impact.
Bladeless wind turbines.
If we want to solve the problem at the root of the problem, we can also see the changes that humans have made to wind turbines.
For example, a bladeless wind turbine developed by a Canadian company can be used for bladeless wind energy harvesting.
In general, we may not be able to completely solve the problem of the survival of birds in a short period of time, but human beings are making changes step by step.