Goals and Objectives:

• Document bird use at wind farm sites in Iowa. I will employ point counts and distance sampling techniques to provide an assessment of bird community responses at wind farms and paired control sites. This will produce a measure of community response (species richness) and species‐specific density estimates as a means for comparisons. [field work from May to July in 2011 and 2012]
• Monitor nesting success of birds in response to proximity to wind turbines. I will locate and monitor nests of one or more common species (probably Dickcissel or Red‐winged Blackbird) to determine if nest success is related to proximity to wind farms. The probability of successfully completing a nesting attempt is an important demographic parameter and will be the means for comparing results. [field work from May to July in 2011 and 2012]
• Monitor bat proximity to wind turbines using Anabat technology. I will place Anabat receivers at wind farm and control sites to monitor species composition and encounter frequency at each site. Anabats do not allow individuals to be identified, so I will rely on call encounter rates by species as a measure for comparisons. [field work from May to July in 2011 and 2012]

This project was completed by Stephen A. Dinsmore as the Principal Investigator, Molly K. Gillespie as the student investigator, and Karen E. Kinkead from the Iowa DNR.

Funding Organization: Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), State Wildlife Grant Comp.

Duration: 10/01/2010 to 08/31/2013