Griffon Vulture collision with wind turbine video

[admin]

Watch this tragic accident.



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[Colin Key]

I posted part of this sequence in the "Conservation" section two days ago.

The more I see of this event, the more I think it could have been staged (i.e. a bird released near this windfarm - seeing a single Griffon is not all that common). Why was the car there, who was doing the filming, and how come some retrieval apparatus was available 'on the spot'.

Smells a bit "fishy" to me (but then I am an old cynic).

Colin

[birdertrev]

It does seem a bit odd ! , it looks like it was filmed by the paragliding fraternity , but why ?? and would the Griffon fly around the turbine naturally like that ?

Trev

[MichaelF]

Vultures might be attracted to windfarms to look for corpses of birds killed earlier by the blades. They're also not the most manoeuvrable of birds in flight.

I read one research paper a while back which pointed out that flight manoeuvrability was an important factor in casualties - dealing with a coastal set of turbines, the authors showed that gulls and eiders had a higher casualty rate, while cormorants never had any problems at all and dodged the blades easily. They suggested that cormorants (often tree-nesting) were able to cope due to being adapted to flying through trees on windy days, making them more aware of moving things in the air.

[Colin Key]

Originally Posted by MichaelF

.....while cormorants never had any problems at all and dodged the blades easily. They suggested that cormorants (often tree-nesting) were able to cope due to being adapted to flying through trees on windy days, making them more aware of moving things in the air.

What a pity!!!

Colin

[MichaelF]

You don't like cormorants??

[Colin Key]

Originally Posted by MichaelF

You don't like cormorants??

No, I don't. I recall whilst working in the Scottish Hebrides (where they are called "Scarts") being invited to partake of this horrible thing (served with boiled potatoes and cabbage) which had been plucked, gutted and interred in a barrel of brine for twelve months. The taste of "tough fish" comes to mind.

Colin

P.S. You really needed the Scotch as an antidote .

[mafting]

Originally Posted by MichaelF

Vultures might be attracted to windfarms to look for corpses of birds killed earlier by the blades. They're also not the most manoeuvrable of birds in flight.

I read one research paper a while back which pointed out that flight manoeuvrability was an important factor in casualties - dealing with a coastal set of turbines, the authors showed that gulls and eiders had a higher casualty rate, while cormorants never had any problems at all and dodged the blades easily. They suggested that cormorants (often tree-nesting) were able to cope due to being adapted to flying through trees on windy days, making them more aware of moving things in the air.

Not sure about that at all! Ever watched a groups of gulls chasing about when one of them has food, and then tried to picture Cormorants managing the same feats of agility...?

Gulls might simply be more common casualties due to being attracted the wind farms by corpses or something else. Eiders for mussels on the bases. Cormorants may avoid them due to distubed wind patterns around the base (turbulence).

It seems abit far-fetched to think that the film is staged. Where would one get a vulture? How would one make sure it hit the blades and didn't just flap off down the valley? The turbines are presumably on a hill ridge to catch the wind, so it's just the sort of place a vulture would go to for an updraft.

Pretty easy to explain the car and the filming - they were there to paraglide! There's no indication of the time lag between the bird being hit and the rescuers arriving - could have been an hour after a phone call was made. It's certainly been edited for effect, but I don't doubt that it happened naturally. It's much more plausible than the alternative.