Focusing on a bio-inspired passive flow control strategy with a potential application to wind turbines, this study consists of an experimental characterization of the aerodynamics of a representative wind turbine blade section to be possibly equipped with leading-edge tubercles. A total of five airfoils are tested in a low-speed wind tunnel, their aerodynamic characteristics being explored over a wide range of flow conditions by the means of load measurements and wall-flow visualizations. Results reveal that the leading-edge tubercles alter differently the airfoil's aerodynamics, depending on their specific design (amplitude and wavelength) as well as on the flow conditions (speed and incidence). The magnitude of these effects is seen to vary with the tubercles' amplitude and/or wavelength, ultimately leading to an optimal trade-off between pre- and post-stall regimes being offered by an intermediate amplitude-to-wavelength ratio. Second, the aerodynamic benefits/penalties induced by the leading-edge tubercles are explored through wall-flow visualizations; The tubercled airfoils exhibit pairs of counter-rotating vortices, whose characteristics are driven by the tubercles' design, the airfoil shape, and/or the flow conditions. Overall, these vortex pairs are more prominent for large-amplitude and/or small-wavelength tubercles, each design altering the near-wall flow and, thus, the aerodynamic performances in a specific fashion.