Offshore Wind Energy and Seabird Welfare

The rapid expansion of offshore wind energy creates both opportunities and welfare risks for seabirds through collision mortality and displacement from foraging areas.

Key Facts

Offshore wind turbines cause collision mortality in seabirds, with gannets, auks, and terns at particular risk
Curtailment systems that stop turbines during high-risk periods can reduce bird collision significantly
Large-scale wind development may displace foraging birds from key areas, affecting food intake welfare
Strategic siting away from key foraging and migration corridors is the most welfare-protective approach

Welfare Considerations

Offshore wind welfare for seabirds requires balancing the long-term welfare benefits of climate action against direct harms to individual birds from collision and displacement. Collision mortality causes traumatic injury and death; displacement forces birds to commute further for food, increasing energy expenditure and potentially affecting breeding success. Mitigation measures including motion-triggered curtailment during high-risk periods, radar detection systems, and strategic siting away from key flyways and foraging hotspots can significantly reduce impacts. Good welfare outcomes require seabird welfare data to be integrated into wind farm planning from the outset.

What You Can Do

Support offshore wind planning requirements that include seabird welfare assessment
Advocate for curtailment and radar monitoring requirements at operational wind farms
Follow seabird monitoring programmes at offshore wind sites to track welfare impacts
Engage with the wind-wildlife trade-off as a nuanced policy challenge requiring evidence-based solutions