Insight into bird vision could influence turbine design
A new study conducted by Dr. Graham Martin at Birmingham University investigates how bird sight effects collisions with human infrastructure, including wind turbines.
“When in flight, birds may turn their heads to look down, either with the binocular field or with the lateral part of an eye’s visual field,” says Martin. “Such behavior results in certain species being at least temporarily blind in the direction of travel.”
Martin notes that most avian vision prioritizes movement, not spatial detail, for hunting purposes. High speeds required for flight also limit the amount of information that birds can process about their environment. Understanding these different ways of seeing could aid in the development of warning systems to limit collisions with renewable energy infrastructure.
(via Yale Environment 360 and Science Daily)
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