Biologically inspired warning patterns deter a passerine, Parus major, from digital turbine blades

Abstract Wind power has been at the forefront of renewable energy investment, but bird fatalities from turbine collisions remain a key ecological and social concern. Increasingly, how principles from sensory ecology might reduce collisions by enhancing the detectability or aversiveness of turbine blades have been investigated. In nature, aposematic species use high-contrast colours and striped patterns to warn predators of their unprofitability. These signal elements are effective due to their conspicuousness across variable natural scenes, memorability, generalisability from mimicry, and exploitation of innate colour aversions. This begs the question: might employing biologically inspired turbine warning colours help birds to avoid turbine blades? Here, we used a screen-based ‘game’ experimental setup to test the behavioural responses of wild-caught great tits (Parus major) to three existing wind turbine patterns (white, red-striped, and single black blade) as well as a novel biologically inspired aposematic pattern. Tits were less likely to approach and, when they did approach, took significantly longer to approach patterned than uniform white blades. This effect was strongest for our bio-inspired pattern. Our work supports the need for further investigation into the use of warning patterns to reduce bird collisions with wind turbines.