HL Deb 19 July 2000 vol 615 cc101-2WA
Lord Hoyle

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What numbers and species of birds have been reported to have been killed by wind farms in 1997, 1998 and 1999. [HL3343]

Lord Whitty

This department does not have statistics for bird fatalities from wind farms and can therefore offer no figures for the numbers killed in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

I do however recognise that wind farms can have an impact on birds through direct loss of habitat, disturbance resulting in effective habitat loss or degradation and increased mortality caused by birds colliding with moving turbine rotors, towers and associated structures.

Existing research indicates that each wind farm is unique in the way the environmental and engineering factors interact with the bird species present and that different species vary in their vulnerability to disturbance. It is therefore not possible to make general predictions about the impact of proposed wind farm developments. Each needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.