Many bird species are unaffected by wind farms, concludes a study carried out by UK bird charities. Scientists with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and RSPB found that building the turbines was more disruptive than operating them. Impacts varied between species, with red grouse numbers recovering after construction, curlews declining and not recovering, and skylarks increasing.

Their findings are published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. This is the latest in a long line of studies on wind farms' interactions with birds, but differs from most in its scale. Ten species of birds were included, and 18 wind farms in upland areas of the UK were studied - most were monitored before construction began, during construction, and again afterwards.