Seasonal Difference in Carcass Persistence Rates at Wind Farms with Snow, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

Carcass persistence rates strongly affect estimation of avian fatalities resulting from collisions with wind turbines. Our aim was to compare bird carcass persistence rates based on trials during different seasons at wind farms where the ground was snow covered in winter. Carcass persistence was found to be considerably shorter during late winter than during summer/autumn, and was considered to result from food shortages for terrestrial vertebrate scavengers during winter, and the higher visibility of carcasses resting on snow-covered ground in late winter. It is critical to represent carcass persistence rates in different seasons at wind farms.