powerlines, windmills and weak winds...

[dllee]

I remember in the old daze, we all thought buzzards and vultures were repelled by powerlines of the type around Sherman. All that high voltage and buzzing annoyed the search/seek function of those birds, and rather than fight thru it, they just avoided it.
Similar to atomic subs and whales, but whales can't escape the sudden appearance of 40 mph subs.

[Georges]

[airwave]

I think this poster is tilting at windmills. There is a whole book about it.

[Georges]

[combs]

Where is Dulcinea when we need her?
To Dream the Impossible dream.....That this silly thread never existed!

[stilladdicted]

great discussion.

OK - my opinion? I know you want it. I don't really care.

I think one windmill is additive to the horizen, great at sunset, a farm of them, is a bit of an eyesore.

I agree, those darn hills probably have more effect on the wind. Wonder if we can get those lowered?

But what really promted me to join in on my own post was the bird comment. Didn't even put it together while boating last weekend. No sailable wind, those darn windmills.....

We kept seeing dead birds in the water. Hell, if I'd known they were not dead from disease, I'd popped them in the smoker!

Best

[damel]

Why don't we look at some facts and prioritize.

Table Source
Man-made structure/technology ==> Associated bird deaths per year (U.S.)
Feral and domestic cats ==> Hundreds of millions [source: AWEA]
Power lines ==> 130 million -- 174 million [source: AWEA]
Windows (residential and commercial) ==> 100 million -- 1 billion [source: TreeHugger]
Pesticides ==> 70 million [source: AWEA]
Automobiles ==> 60 million -- 80 million [source: AWEA]
Lighted communication towers ==> 40 million -- 50 million [source: AWEA]
Wind turbines ==> 10,000 -- 40,000 [source: ABC]

So all we need to do is kill all cats (hope there aren't any cat lovers on the forum), put the US power grid underground, get rid of all windows, destroy all cars and trucks, remove all radio and cell towers and finally we will be ready to get to the real problem that is killing birds... wind turbines. Oh whats that, there is already research being done using both visual aids and high frequency sound to detour birds around turbines, brilliant. You should see how many bugs pile up on the blades should we talk about that next.

[gpadmos]

I hear the wind at Crissy hasn't been the same since they built that eyesore spanning the Golden Gate.

[waaag]

I have no dog in this fight but I do hate it when statistics are misused.

The cited source for the number of birds killed by turbines is howstuffworks.com, which in turn misquotes a figure from "ABC," which turns out to be not the network but the American Bird Conservancy.

A further check reveals that "ABC" are referencing an estimate by the US Fish and Wildlife Service at about 440,000 birds killed per year by wind turbines. But even that agency denies that it is an official estimate, just a number that one scientist came up with.

So the 40,000 figure is BS and way off any real estimate. That throws suspicion on all the numbers as well as the source cited.


[quote="damel"]Why don't we look at some facts and prioritize.

Table Source
Man-made structure/technology ==> Associated bird deaths per year (U.S.)
Feral and domestic cats ==> Hundreds of millions [source: AWEA]
Power lines ==> 130 million -- 174 million [source: AWEA]
Windows (residential and commercial) ==> 100 million -- 1 billion [source: TreeHugger]
Pesticides ==> 70 million [source: AWEA]
Automobiles ==> 60 million -- 80 million [source: AWEA]
Lighted communication towers ==> 40 million -- 50 million [source: AWEA]
Wind turbines ==> 10,000 -- 40,000 [source: ABC]

[swchandler]

Are birds stupid? I mentioned the American Crow in my earlier post, because they're hanging out in the Great Pacific Ironwood that almost covers my entire home.

I have often seen crows feeding along the side of the road with vehicles going by in excess of 65mph, and not even flinching. Have you ever tried approaching a crow on foot?