Seeing the Invisible: How Radars and Birdwatchers Can Guide Safer Wind Farms

Combining information from radars and birdwatchers can help us make sure we don’t build wind farms in the way of migrating birds. Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay.

Australia is racing to build new wind farms as part of the clean energy transition. But while wind power is essential for cutting carbon emissions, spinning turbines can also pose risks for wildlife—especially birds on the move. The trouble is, we don’t have a clear map of where and when most of those birds are flying.

A new study led by researchers at The University of Queensland shows there’s a solution: combine weather radar with the power of citizen science. By fusing these two unlikely data sources, the team has uncovered a vast, largely hidden migration system across eastern Australia. And those insights could be critical for making sure renewable energy is rolled out in ways that don’t unintentionally harm the very biodiversity it aims to protect.

A Hidden Highway in the Sky

The researchers looked at bird movements from Tasmania to tropical Queensland between 2018 and 2022. They used weather radar—which detects not only rain but also flocks of birds aloft—to measure pulses of movement in the sky. Then they lined up those signals with millions of observations submitted to eBird, the online platform where birdwatchers log what they see.

The overlap was striking. In the middle of the continent’s east coast, especially between Victoria and southeast Queensland, the radar “traffic” in the air matched the timing of birdwatcher reports on the ground almost perfectly. Further north and south the match was weaker, in part because local movements are more complex and fewer observers are submitting lists. But across the whole region, the message was the same: migration is happening at a scale that has been mostly overlooked.

The team identified 311 species with seasonal movements suggesting migration. Some, like honeyeaters and silvereyes, are familiar travellers. But many others, from parrots and ducks to ibises and small songbirds, have rarely been recognised as migrants in Australia.

Why It Matters for Wind Farms

Until now, most Australian environmental laws and planning guidelines have focused on shorebirds that fly to and from Asia. They’re important, but they’re only part of the picture. This new study shows that hundreds of other species shift within Australia each year, many of them flying long distances at night and at heights that make them vulnerable to turbines and power lines.

If these species aren’t recognised as migrants, their risks go unseen in planning processes. That could mean wind farms are sited in areas where large numbers of birds pass through, especially during peak migration weeks, increasing the chance of collisions.

By using radar to spot the timing and scale of flights, and citizen science data to identify which species are moving, planners and regulators can now anticipate where the biggest risks lie. That makes it possible to adjust turbine locations, alter construction schedules, or design mitigation strategies that keep bird losses low while still delivering clean energy.

A New Tool for Smarter Development

The beauty of this approach is that it doesn’t require new technology. Weather radars already scan the skies every day, and birdwatchers are already contributing millions of observations to citizen science platforms. What’s needed is to join the dots—and to recognise these data as part of national biodiversity monitoring.

The authors argue that this integration should become routine, not just for science but for real-world decision-making. As Australia builds out its renewable energy infrastructure, the choice is not between birds and wind power. Instead, it’s about using the information we already have to design projects that work for both.

Looking Ahead

This study provides the first big-picture view of how seasonal bird movements sweep across eastern Australia. It also sets a precedent for other regions where bird migration has been hard to study. Most importantly, it shows that we have the tools to safeguard both our energy future and our wildlife—if we use them wisely.

As lead author Xu Shi and colleagues put it, there’s a hidden migration highway in the skies above us. Now that we can see it, the challenge is to make sure Australia’s clean energy revolution doesn’t come at the cost of the very birds that make those journeys year after year.

Shi X, Clarke RH, Simmonds JS, Kerswell A, Holden W, Chapman JW & Fuller RA (2025) Characterising migratory bird assemblages in understudied regions by integrating radar and citizen science data. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34, e70104.