Migratory Birds

This rose-breasted grosbeak likely flew across Lake Ontario on its way north before it was ensnared in nets at the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory in 2012. It was later released to continue its journey.

Birds species that migrate south across Lake Ontario in the fall to the warmer climes of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond and then return in the spring tend to fly at an altitude higher than the sweep of 500- foot-high industrial wind turbines. But what happens when you install an array of spinning turbines at the birds’ first bit of land for about 50 kilometres? Or at night?

The Tribunal considering the appeal of the White Pines wind project had the same questions. While it could not conclude that the project would impose serious and irreversible harm on a species of migratory birds, it found that the location of the project, adjacent to an important bird area and a recognized migratory bird stopover area, was a bad idea.

“Clearly, the Project site is poorly chosen from a migratory bird perspective,” wrote the Tribunal in its decision.

The Tribunal is relying on data gathering and monitoring (the Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan) by the developer and mitigation tactics to manage the risk. The developer’s permit prescribes an array of measures, including the periodic shutdown of the turbines and blade feathering at times of the year when risk is high.

Yet the Tribunal took the extraordinary step of recommending that both the developer and the MOECC do more work to understand the impact of industrial wind turbines on migratory birds.

“The Tribunal recommends further scientific studies be undertaken by the Approval Holder to better understand the impacts of migratory bird displacement from stopover areas and effective means to measure it, and that the Director periodically review and update the REA’s conditions over the life of the Project as scientific understanding improves.”

Neither the MOECC nor the developer are bound by this recommendation—yet it is a reminder that these projects are proceeding under provincial authority without the science to show they are safe for the birds, animals and habitat that are threatened by them.

It is also an important test of the commitment each has made to safeguard migratory birds. How the developer and MOECC respond to this recommendation will offer a measure of their sincerity.