The probabilistic habitat use-collision risk model, which is currently approved for the red kite, allows estimating the risk that breeding birds collide with wind turbines.
Bird collisions with wind turbines are a controversially discussed topic. On the one hand, further development of wind energy use is urgently needed to counteract climate change. On the other hand, the collision risk for birds, especially large birds and birds of prey, can increase as a result of the growing number of wind turbines or larger rotor diameters.
The project-specific risk depends for example on the distance between breeding site and wind turbine, the bird species or the landscape structure. The assessment of specific projects under species protection legislation in the context of approval procedures is therefore often subject to uncertainties.
The habitat use-collision risk model includes all of these different factors in the analysis and enables a more precise assessment of the collision risk for a specific site. The model thus provides an important building block for determining the project-specific collision risk for wind energy planning.
The method is explained and discussed in detail in issue 3/25 of the German journal “Der Falke”.
