Recovery of raptors from displacement by wind farms – a response

Abstract

Dohm et al. (2019) describe temporal trends in the displacement of resident raptors at a single wind farm. They report the recovery of overall raptor abundances 7–8 years post‐construction, although with varying displacement trends among species (or species/groups), and this finding is used to suggest that displacement of raptors caused by wind farms may be temporary. They also state that “In the absence of longer‐term monitoring, our findings may be broadly applicable to the US wind industry”. Even though this study provides valuable long‐term data on raptor displacement by wind farms, we found weaknesses in its analysis and conclusions that warrant further discussion.