Multi-Year Research Provides Further Confirmation that Eagle Fatalities in Wind Farms Can be Greatly Reduced by Using IdentiFlight

IdentiFlight is pleased to share recently published results for the independent study, “Confirmation that eagle fatalities can be reduced by automated curtailment of wind turbines”.  The research article was published in the British Ecology Society’s Ecological Solutions and Evidence Journal.

The study update confirms that eagle fatalities can be reduced by 85 percent with the implementation of IdentiFlight’s targeted, informed curtailment based on data collected from 2018 to 2021. This is the first independent verification of IdentiFlight technology to provide results over a multi-year period.  

The update is based on additional data collected since “Automated curtailment of wind turbines reduces eagle fatalities,” was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The 2021 study and the updated report were both conducted by The Peregrine Fund, in cooperation with Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. and the US Geological Survey, at a wind farm site in Wyoming. The original publication indicated an 82 percent reduction in eagle fatalities as compared to biomonitors.

Dr. Chris McClure, Director of Global Conservation Science at The Peregrine Fund was lead author on the study. “Our re-analysis strengthens our inference by using more robust analyses and data to support the conclusions of the prior study suggesting that automated curtailment was effective at reducing eagle fatalities at our treatment site.”

“IdentiFlight has been proven time and time again through independent research to be an effective mitigation and minimization solution for current and future wind projects,” said Don Mills, IdentiFlight President and Chief Operating Officer.  “This research is particularly timely given the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed rule changes to the eagle take permitting program.  We hope that proven mitigation technologies, like IdentiFlight, will be considered when determining permitting changes.”