Avian Mortalities from Two Wind Farms at Kutch, Gujarat and Davangere, Karnataka, India

Wind power is renewable and helps reduce greenhouse gas emission from the energy sector; however, it also has undesirable impacts on the environment. Studies from Europe and the USA report negative impact of wind farms on wildlife, especially on birds. India, the fourth largest producer of wind energy and also a mega biodiverse country has little information on this issue. Here, we report bird collisions from two wind farms: one at Kutch, Gujarat in western India and another from Davangere, Karnataka in southern India. A total of 47 bird carcasses belonging to at least 11 species in a period of three years were reported from Kutch and seven carcasses of at least three species in a period of one year were recorded at Davengere wind farm. The estimated annual bird mortality rate for Kutch was 0.478 birds/turbine and for Davengere it was 0.466 birds/turbine.