Abstract
Current knowledge about bird and bat collisions with wind turbines in Australia is limited by a lack of consistent monitoring methods and of publicly available information where data have been collected. An overview of information that is available for mortalities and for collision modelling is provided and it suggests that frequency of collisions is generally low and unlikely to have significant impacts on population of many species. The perceptions and paradigms within which wind turbine collisions are considered are compared with aviation fauna collisions in Australia. Assessment by approval authorities of potential and actual bird and bat collisions have generally not been well focused on whether the levels of mortality involved influence viability of populations of species of concern. This is despite important regulatory policy that is clearly intended to ensure this approach. There is a great deal of potential to improve our understanding of bird and bat collisions with turbines and recommendations are made to ensure that assessments of collision rates are focused on determining whether they have impacts on populations of threatened taxa.