The Gauge: The simple, affordable way to stop wind farms killing eagles
ByPeter Holding
July 15 2026 - 7:00pm
Farmers have been looking after nature for hundreds of years. We're proud to point out the rosella's nest near the house, the platypus in the river, or the eagle's nest in the back paddock. Wherever the technology exists to make our farms more nature-friendly, we've adopted it, and that's what we expect from other businesses, too.
The recent news that 20 wedge-tailed eagles have been killed by wind turbines in 18 months at the Rye Park Wind Farm in NSW, which is owned by Tilt, made headlines. But the issue of wind farms killing Australia's birds of prey - apex predators at the top of the food chain which exist in relatively small numbers - is not new.
Something can - and should - be done about this right away. In Tasmania, two wind farms, Woolnorth and Cattle Hill, had seen dozens of endangered Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles die through being hit by the blades. There are thought to be fewer than 2000 of this subspecies remaining in the wild, so such losses were unacceptable.
Both wind farms installed cameras linked to artificial intelligence which stop the blades spinning when an eagle flies towards the turbine. It was a spectacular success. Neither wind farm has had an eagle death in the past couple of years, and the reduction in wind "yield" caused by the camera system is 1 per cent or less.
The cameras also captured amazing data (millions of photos and videos) on all kinds of birds which ornithologists and amateur bird lovers had never had before, including telling us what time of year certain birds are in that part of the country and for how long.
This is a great local example of a solution protecting nature in action. The AI can be trained to protect any bird at all: brolgas, kestrels, falcons, herons. There are other solutions, including radars or painting one turbine blade a different colour, which have been effective in overseas studies (reducing raptor deaths by 70pc). There are also other species which this technology won't save, such as bats.
At Farmers for Climate Action, the 8000 farmers we represent know we need to shift to clean energy. Burning coal and gas has caused pollution to create a blanket around the earth, and it's keeping the heat in. The data so far shows that Australia is being damaged faster and more by climate change than nearly any country on earth; we've warmed far more than the global average already. Some species are being sent to extinction by this, and each link in the food chain depends on all others.
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We need wind in the grid, and we need nature-friendly wind farms, and we can easily have both if we choose to. The AI camera technology has had great results in Australia and it's affordable; less than 1pc of the capital cost of building most wind farms.
If a misguided or reckless farmer (or anyone else) shoots or poisons an eagle, the penalty is fines of tens of thousands of dollars, or jail time. The time for excuses is over. This is especially important with bird flu set to have a potentially devastating impact on raptors. We ask the federal government to make these cameras, and other appropriate conditions to protect our flying friends, a condition of building a wind farm.
Because we expect the same care for nature from others as is expected of us.
- By Peter Holding, Farmers for Climate Action outreach officer
