Wind energy company pleads guilty to eagle deaths

For the first time, the Obama administration is taking action against wind farms for killing eagles.

Studies shows more than a dozen birds die each year through collisions with turbines, and that wind energy facilities can also cause harm through the loss of natural habitat.

In a settlement announced Friday, Duke Energy will pay $1 million for killing 14 golden eagles over the past three years at two wind farms in Wyoming. 

The company says it pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The case is the first to be prosecuted under that law for a wind company by the Obama administration, which has championed  pollution-free wind power.

Eagles can slam into massive turbines while they are focused on the ground below them searching for prey.

A study by government biologists this year found that wind energy facilities in 10 states had killed at least 67 golden and bald eagles since 2008.

By 2030, there could be more than 100,000 wind turbines in the United States, and these could kill more than one million birds per year, according to the American Bird Conservatory.

If wind energy is to be completely green, it must be "bird-smart," the Conservatory said. That means careful siting, operation, monitoring, and compensation to reduce and redress any harm to birds.

Eagles tend to avoid areas where the landscape has been altered or developed, such as farms or towns, making these spots safer for developing wind energy.

Areas that should not host wind farms are migratory bottlenecks, wetlands, key nesting areas, the edges of ridges migrant birds use for direction, and habitat or flight paths of endangered or declining species, the Conservatory recommended.

Lights, such as strobe lights, can minimize nighttime migratory bird deaths.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press