this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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Trailing edge you say? So not designed to mince up birds, that's a relief.
Oh they’ll still mince birds, just with the blunt side
Most of the bird deaths are not actually physical strikes - it is a result of the massive change of air pressure as the blades pass at speed. Evidently painting one of the blades black - or some contrasting colour - keeps a lot of the birds well away.
do they pass out? does it affect their breathing? this is very interesting to me
I realise that I had mis-remembered this. It is primarily bat deaths that are caused by the air pressure changes around turbines - not birds. This is because bats have a particularly large and thin lung internal membranes which gives them high efficiency. The rapid decompression in the immediate wake of the turbine blades - particularly towards the tips, which are the fastest moving part of course - damages this membrane.
Birds have more compact lungs and hollow bones which aid in their breathing - a different solution to the efficiency problem and one that is not as susceptible to these pressure changes.