[Closed] bird-slicing eco-crucifixes

The turbine lobby would have us believe there's no evidence that turbines are a threat to wildlife, birds in particular.
Well, there is now. A shame such a beautiful creature flies all this way, and its a human construct that causes its death.

I'm sure it would have otherwise flown into a window or been killed by a domestic cat, like the hundreds of thousands of birds that meet that fate each year.

The most recent figures are from the Mammal Society, which estimates that [b]the UK's cats catch up to 275 million prey items a year, of which 55 million are birds.[/b] This is the number of prey items that were known to have been caught; we don't know how many more the cats caught, but didn't bring home, or how many escaped but subsequently died.

The most frequently caught birds, according to the Mammal Society, are probably (in order) house sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds and starlings.

No evidence
Despite the large numbers of birds killed, there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide. [b]This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year[/b], mainly through starvation, disease, or other forms of predation.

So? Do they taste good?

Yes. What we must do is continue to use non-renewable sources of energy so a few birds don't die.

probably a bit like pigeon...

(is my guess)

Evolution. Only birds that don't fly into things will survive

Gosh, I'd better cover up my French doors, seeing as one of the few garden birds not eaten by a cat managed to fly into it.

Surely the best thing would be to nail a cat to the top of each turbine? Bird have evolved to keep away from cats as a natural preditor, by putting a cat on each turbine, the birds would automatically associate a turbine with Danger...............

That rare bird was already thousands of miles off course. It didn't exactly have a track record for paying attention did it?

It was seen by birders fly straight into the turbine. It is ironic that after waiting so long for this bird to turn up in the UK it was killed by a wind turbine and not a natural predator,

Cars drive into trees and the drivers get killed so it obviously the fault of the tree

it's the spinning blades that are the problem, you'd need a cat nailed to the end of each blade.

(make sure each cat is wearing a bell - to be sure)

[quote=slugwash ]That rare bird was already thousands of miles off course. It didn't exactly have a track record for paying attention did it?
😆

they're even rarer now...

The White-throated Needletail - the world’s fastest flying bird - was thousand of miles off course

Not a good start...

after over 80 twitches flocked to Harris - with scores more on their way

So it can have a peaceful rest and get back on its way...

others were coming from all over the country

Well, not that peaceful

It is ironic that after waiting so long for this bird to turn up in the UK it was killed by a wind turbine and not a natural predator

So it probably wouldn't have made it out anyway

Some people will have lost the cost of their flights

The crux of the problem.

So basically it was a lost, possibly sick bird that didnt stand much of a chance, and having been chased into a turbine by the twitchers, they take their grievance out on the fact that the turbine was there 🙄

maxtorque - if the cats were nailed on so they were upside down on the downstroke then you could also harvest the energy from them trying to spin round to land on their feet.

That rare bird was already thousands of miles off course. It didn't exactly have a track record for paying attention did it?

Thank you sir ,a perfect Friday LOL

Some ace comments there. Lunch all over the keyboard. 🙂

it's the spinning blades that are the problem, you'd need a cat nailed to the end of each blade.

(make sure each cat is wearing a bell - to be sure)

- if the cats were nailed on so they were upside down on the downstroke then you could also harvest the energy from them trying to spin round to land on their feet.

Perpetual motion may no longer be a myth!
I don't think that bells would be neccessary, a nauseated spinning cat would probably be an audible enough warning for even the most ****-witted of birds.

The White-throated Needletail - the world’s fastest flying bird - was thousand of miles off course

I thought the Peregrine Falcon was fastest, able to do the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs.

if the cats were nailed on so they were upside down on the downstroke then you could also harvest the energy from them trying to spin round to land on their feet.

Perhaps alternating upside down cats and buttered toast on the blades...

Loving the thread title. That's one to be proud of.

I get about 5 birds a week fly into my 2mx3m large living room window FWIW. only ever had to go out out and physically pickup a baby pigeon once in the 2.5 yrs I've been here and that seemed stunned for longer than 20 minutes coz I was worried a cat would come by (as they do quite reguarly).

Article said that bird is a fast bird ... anything flying into a blade/pylon, esp at 30-40 mph or more isn't going to survive. Figures prob not out there but I'd be interested to see how many birds mown down on roads by cars or in the air by aircraft as % vs green energy generation!!

And of course, no birds have ever died due to pollution from fossil fuels, oil spills etc....no bird habitats have ever been displaced in order to mine for coal/drill for gas.... 🙄

baby pigeon

Are you sure? [i]Really[/i] sure?

So, it's a "fast flying bird" How come it manged to hit one of the blades? The "turbine disc" isn't solid, in fact, it's much much more air than blade. Only by flying slowly was the lazy bird likely to get hit.............

So, it's a "fast flying bird" How come it manged to hit one of the blades?

It was distracted by a crowd of binocular-fetishists.

littlemisspanda - Member
And of course, no birds have ever died due to pollution

They do but it's not as instant as hitting a turbine and no-one wants to sit around watching things eat garbage and then slowly die.

[img] [/img]

Just one? pff, oil is much better at killing http://dailydeadbirds.com/

It was distracted by a crowd of binocular-fetishists.

Or deafened by the sound of miaowing and ringing bells and blinded by hot butter dripping into its eyes.

it is ironic that after waiting so long for this bird to turn up in the UK it was killed by a wind turbine and not a natural predator

Surely it is coincidence, not irony? 😕

It is said to be the fastest-flying bird in flapping flight, with a confirmed maximum of 111.6 km/h (69.3 mph).It is commonly reputed to reach velocities of up to 170 km/h (105 mph), though this has not been verified.

Coyote - Member
baby pigeon
Are you sure? Really sure?

EDIT: i.e. something young and pigeon/dove-esque

Fastest flying bird is actually an Eider Duck. Strange but true. Fastest dropping bird is a Peregrine. Might just apply to UK birds.

"World's fastest bird" or not it should never be flying beyond it's limits to brake safely and under control. Bird is wholly at fault.

I wonder if any of those birdwatchers hit anything in their car as they flocked to Harris?

Birds die when they crash into all sorts of things. Numbers are the issue. So far we have ONE confirmed kill don't we?

it's a bit more than one...

[img] [/img]
(photo from spain)

[img] [/img]
(photo from Denmark)

[img] [/img]
(photo from Brighton)

Surely the best thing would be to nail a cat to the top of each turbine

"Worlds fastest flapping bird,with worlds worst eyesight"

Tis a shame still.

Not wanting to be skeptical but the turbine would have to have exceptionally sharp blades and be rotating at a fair old pace to slice the head clean off a seagull.

Not that they don't deserve it, Cougar! 😉

awhiles - so what would be an acceptable level of avian mortality to generate energy using less environmentally damaging/more sustainable means than fossil fuel?

You know how James Dyson 'revolutionised' office fan design with that deformed albino hula-hoop thing, could the design not be reversed to make a bladeless wind turbine?

Or we could simply burn seagulls to fuel power stations, they're oily enough. Imagine the smell.

Planning regulations stipulate that blades of wind turbines must;

be able to maintain sufficient sharpness so that when bird strikes occur... the dispatch of avians would be be considered humane and prevent uneccessary suffering or distress

Plus one for burning seagulls, and that seagull photo looks a bit suspicious to me.

Also, http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-turbine-kill-birds.htm

Compared with the number of birds and other wildlife killed by motor vehicles this is insignificant. Ban trucks and cars first.

The birds should've worn helmets.

what would be an acceptable level of avian mortality to generate energy using less environmentally damaging/more sustainable means than fossil fuel?

er, you tell me?

I'm sure that most people would agree that some sort of scale exists, from 'wind-turbines are pointless, any harm to wildlife is excessive' at one end, to 'diced sea-eagle pie please! - cooked in an oven powered by wind!' at the other.

i suspect my views place me at the more sceptical end...

...that seagull photo looks a bit suspicious to me.

ask the woman who took the photo:

Marian Cleary – who Tweets as @soundwords

i suppose the (ex) sea-eagle is photo-shopped too?

[url= http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2013/01/03/the-shocking-environmental-cost-of-renewable-energy-wildife-extinctions/ ]linky[/url]

#goodlordiagreewithdelingpole

Not wanting to be skeptical but the turbine would have to have exceptionally sharp blades and be rotating at a fair old pace to slice the head clean off a seagull.

Nnnnnnnnnot really. Think the tips of the blades are pretty quick (I can't do the science). IIRC there's some famous footage of a freefalling skydiver cutting another skydiver in half, such was the speed of their impact.

[Edit]: one skydiver's arm cut through both the other guy's legs. A combined speed of 300mph, apparently...

Now that's an image I did not want

Ban jet engines they cremate whole flocks in one go.

I don't think the seagull is photoshopped but I'd like to see the rest of the bird. The head suggests the rest of the thing was eaten.

And how is one of them blokes not wearing them wings proclaiming wind turbines give you wings?

Think the tips of the blades are pretty quick

I've just read some blurb stating up to 179mph at the tips

Perhaps if the birds took the time to read the blurb themselves they wouldn't be so gung-ho.

Next time, it could be a baby robin's face sliced clean off.

That rare bird was already thousands of miles off course. It didn't exactly have a track record for paying attention did it?

According to this
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachuting
head down terminal velocity is around 200mph, so how did two skydivers falling together attain a combined speed of 300 mph?

Is seagull head not more likely to be the result of a scavenger, rather than turbine decapitation?
Great idea to staple cats to turbines, could we include Dellingpole as well?

kcr - Member
...how did two skydivers falling together attain a combined speed of 300 mph?

if one of them's on a treadmill?

Edukator - Member

I'd like to see the rest of the bird. The head suggests the rest of the thing was eaten.

you don't have to google very far:

[img] [/img]

the bad location of wind turbines in Tarifa, that place in Norway with the eagles and some of the US farms isn't a secret, and people have learnt from the mistakes. There has been a stack of research from Norway into the interactions of birds and turbines. It is interesting how people latch onto one bird being killed, when thousands upon thousands die from oil spills alone without batting many eyelids.

There is a vid on youtube of a vulture climbing the thermals at Tarifa and going into a turbine blade for those who are into the gory pics, it's a bit sad to watch.

head down terminal velocity is around 200mph, so how did two skydivers falling together attain a combined speed of 300 mph?

you don't have to google very far:

That looks like someone's back yard, couldn't even have been a big turbine if so!?

Yep, sort of a medium sized jobby.

Edit: not someone's yard. Considering where the photo of the turbine was taken something of a close call.

Not as close as the Seagulls

According to this
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachuting
head down terminal velocity is around 200mph, so how did two skydivers falling together attain a combined speed of 300 mph?

They were riding a plane on a conveyor belt.

That's laughable, twitchers flock from all over the country burning fossil fuels and when they get there they moan about a Green Energy wind turbine killing a dickie bird WTF !

So it's OK to help pollute the environment but then moan when they chase a helpless bird into a giant fan !
I'd make them all stay there for another 30 odd years till another one turns up ! See if they learn a lesson,

Fastest diving bird my arse! That was a lass I met at Uni. She could trip a lad up and be under him before he hit the floor !

IGMC

head down terminal velocity is around 200mph, so how did two skydivers falling together attain a combined speed of 300 mph?

They were riding a plane on a conveyor belt.

[b]Duh![/b] opposite directions wasn't it - one going up, the other going down!

Hard to compare invisibly mucking up the climate and slicing the odd bird

The bird was probably doomed. Nothing a twitcher likes better than some poor thing flapping about exhausted miles off course