For the next four months or so, Mr Ressom and fellow observer Helen Phillips will stand sentry among the reeds, monitoring the numbers of Australia's rarest bird - the orange-bellied parrot - making sure its dwindling numbers don't fly into the blades of a wind turbine. ...Last year, the turbines at Yambuk were shut down twice, when the observers alerted the wind farm operator Pacific Hydro, that a number of the parrots were feeding in the vicinity.

Wind turbine blades in Turitea Reserve could hurt New Zealand's endangered native falcons, a board of inquiry has been told. Biogeography specialist Professor Emeritus of Massey University John Flenley told the Turitea Wind Farm hearing yesterday the planned wind farm could lead to local extinction of the rare bird.

Till now the developers have implied that it would be out of sight and (they hoped) out of mind. ...But this week we have discovered that the windfarm (if they get resource consent to build it) won't be so isolated after all. It will be "west of Brooklyn and south of Karori" so it will have many neighbours. One of its biggest neighbours will be the Karori wildlife sanctuary, which is worried that native birds could be killed by the rotating blades of the Long Gully turbines.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett must approve the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, under national laws, before it can go ahead. The project has gone to the Federal Government because it has been found likely to have significant environmental impact. It now must be assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The Central Highlands could soon be home to the state's biggest wind farm but the endangered wedge- tailed eagle may stop the multimillion-dollar development before it begins. ...But the project faces one major hurdle that has stopped similar developments in the past. N. P. Power had identified that wedge-tailed eagles and white- bellied sea eagles inhabit the region, with two nests existing on the wind farm site.

The New South Wales Government has given planning approval for a wind farm at Gullen Range, near Goulburn, after putting in place measures to protect the powerful owl and the wedgetail eagle. ...Ms Keneally says the the use of some turbines will have to be restricted when the young owls are learning to fly.

Contact Energy is prepared to take the risk of building multimillion-dollar turbines at its proposed Waikato wind farm even if they might not be able to operate under consent conditions. ...the tension evident between Contact's plans and the Conservation Department which says there is not enough evidence to make a decision on the project has already emerged as one of the pivotal issues for the hearing.

A breeding pair of wedge-tailed eagles has been killed at Roaring 40s' Woolnorth Bluff Point windfarm in the state's north-west. A spokesman for Roaring 40s said the company "gets as upset as anybody when there is a collision", but urged people to keep the deaths in perspective. The first eagle was killed on August 17 and a few days later its mate was also struck. ..."But every death of an endangered species is one step closer to the extinction of that species," Dr Woehler said.

The Tasmanian Greens today said the deaths of a breeding pair of Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagles, a critically endangered species, at the Roaring Forties Woolnorth Bluff Point wind farm during the last fortnight, is deeply disturbing. They have called on the responsible Minister to investigate the deaths and ensure the public are informed of the outcome of that investigation.

"The proponents [of the wind farm] say 11 birds have been killed by wind farms [but] we believe the number might be slightly higher, possibly as high as 18 birds," he said. He says he describes the area as a "black hole" area for these birds because the wind farm area overlaps several territories of eagles. "With every death it allows an opening - if you like - for a bird from an adjacent area looking for a territory to move in," he said. "These birds then are essentially naive to the area - they don't recognise the turbines and they then in turn get killed. ..."It's a one-way trip into Woolnorth - they don't come out."

AUSTRALIA'S biggest wind farm in north-west Tasmania has become a "black hole" for endangered wedge-tailed eagles. The 62-tower Woolnorth farm has killed up to 18 of the island's endangered subspecies of the wedge-tail in its giant rotor blades. Despite their acute vision, the eagles are failing to pick out turbine blades with tips that can rotate at 300 kmh, according to Eric Woehler, chairman of Birds Tasmania. "Eagles evolved in a landscape without wind farms," Dr Woehler said. "They just don't see the blades. The researchers there are finding that they are dying not only in the downsweep, but in the upsweep of the blades."

The return to the wild of a wedge tailed eagle in Tasmania's south has re-ignited the debate about protecting the endangered species. The injured bird was rescued three years ago near Bothwell in the Central Highlands and delivered to carer Craig Webb. "It had a collision with power lines, it had some soft tissue damage and it's taken that long to get it right," he said. ...Mr Woehler says the Woolnorth wind farm in the north-west is also still having a detrimental effect on the species. "At the moment we've lost we believe a minimum of 14 eagles (in the past five years) from striking the turbines and that's not sustainable," he said. "It's basically killing the birds that are resident on the area and drawing more birds in from the surrounding area, so it'll continue to be a black-hole for eagles."

Melbourne Water spokesman Ben Pratt said the authority was committed to achieving the twin targets of zero net greenhouse gas emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy usage by 2018. Wind farms would help achieve these targets. However, Mr Pratt said the document listed Werribee's Western treatment plant as "a site with reservations." "We acknowledge there are some potential issues with putting wind turbines there because of the bird sanctuary," he said. "We can't rule anything in or out at this stage. "But if the feasibility study comes back and says there are some real issues with this site, then we would expect it would immediately be ruled out as an option." The wetlands are a seasonal home to thousands of local and migratory birds. Environmentalists fear wind turbines would result in the deaths of many birds caught up in the rotating blades.

The Tasmanian wind power company, Roaring 40's, says it has procedures in place to shut down wind turbines when wedge tailed eagles are at risk. Two of the endangered birds have died in the past month after hitting wind turbines at Woolnorth in the state's north west. Ten eagles have died there since it began operating in 2003. Birds Tasmania says the deaths are unacceptable and two of the turbines which are claiming the most lives should be closed down.

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Ryan says the approval of the Bald Hills wind farm in South Gippsland has divided the community. Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has changed his previous decision to block the project. Senator Campbell originally withdrew approval for the wind farm, saying it could threaten the orange-bellied parrot. Mr Ryan says Bald Hills is an inappropriate location and it is up to the State Government to create a better planning scheme for wind farms.

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has given the go-ahead for the $220 million Bald Hills wind farm, reversing a controversial decision based on a perceived threat to the rare orange-bellied parrot. Senator Campbell today said the wind farm had been given federal approval subject to key changes to the turbine layout and strict conditions to protect the parrot and other threatened species. But local Liberal MP Russell Broadebent and environment groups immediately attacked the reversal.

A Tasmanian wind farm located near known habitats of the orange-bellied parrot was approved before new information revealed risks to the birds from the turbine blades, Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says. In April this year, Senator Campbell overturned Victorian government approval for a 52-turbine wind farm at Bald Hills in Gippsland, using his discretionary powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Despite a departmental report indicating there would be negligible impact on the species, an independent Biosis report found more serious concerns about parrot deaths. The minister acted, blocking the $220 million project.

THE number of wedge-tailed eagle deaths at a Tasmanian windfarm may be higher than officially acknowledged. Up to six of the endangered eagles may have been killed in the past year after being struck by turbines at the Woolnorth windfarm in the far North-West. Windfarm operator Roaring 40s, jointly owned by Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power, puts this year's official death toll at four. However, a further two eagles found dead at the windfarm this year are not included in the tally.