Paint It Black

A solution is available to reduce avian fatalities due to wind turbines.

As wind energy deployment increases and larger wind-power plants are considered, bird fatalities through collision with the moving turbine rotor blades are expected to increase. Recently, an experiment was done where one of the three rotor blades was painted black to increase its visibility and minimize motion smear. The hypothesis was tested at the Smøla wind-power plant in Norway, using a before and after control impact model and it was discovered that the annual fatality rate was significantly reduced by 70% at the turbines that were painted. The treatment had the largest effect on the reduction of raptor fatalities. To minimize cost, the painted blade needs to be done during construction/pre-installation.

Source: https://tethys.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/publications/May_EcolEvol_2020.pdf