Spoor and FP7 McCANN MENAT launch ‘The Birdwatcher’ to protect wind farm wildlife

Spoor, in collaboration with FP7 McCANN MENAT, has launched The Birdwatcher, an initiative that transforms complex wildlife monitoring data into an open, accessible experience and making previously invisible bird activity around wind farms visible to policymakers, industry and the public.

As wind energy scales globally, concerns remain around its impact on wildlife, particularly birds and bats. Collisions, habitat disruption and regulatory buffer zones continue to present challenges for the sector. The Birdwatcher addresses this by reframing the issue and shifting the conversation from limiting wind development to improving the intelligence behind it.

At the core of the initiative is Spoor’s patented technology, which combines AI-powered computer vision, geometric flight analysis and ecological expertise to continuously detect, track and classify bird activity. The system enables wind operators to take preventative action, including turbine curtailment, to reduce risk to wildlife.

Traditionally, the industry has relied on human observation, resulting in slow and fragmented data that often failed to satisfy regulators. This has led to conservative buffer zones and delays in project approvals. In contrast, Spoor’s Sky Intelligence Platform delivers continuous monitoring with detection ranges of up to 1.5 kilometres and accuracy rates of at least 95%, providing verifiable data for permitting, risk mitigation and operational decision-making.

The platform can be applied across the full lifecycle of wind projects, from site selection and environmental impact assessments to ongoing operations, helping identify high-risk areas, protect habitats and support smarter planning. Independent trials have validated the system’s performance against human observation, while Spoor has also extended monitoring capabilities offshore through buoy and metocean-based solutions.

A case study at Aberdeen Bay saw one system monitor bird activity around a turbine for 19 months, capturing approximately 95% of daylight hours. The system recorded 2,007 bird tracks, flagged five potential collision events and confirmed none – demonstrating the level of insight now possible.

The Birdwatcher campaign brings this data to life through a multi-platform rollout, including an interactive microsite, a dedicated Instagram feed documenting bird activity, and a physical bird guidebook with augmented reality features distributed to stakeholders.

Ask Helseth, CEO of Spoor said: “Every wind project faces the same question from regulators, communities and investors: what happens to the birds? We built the technology to answer that with evidence, not assumptions. The data shows coexistence is achievable, and it should no longer sit buried in reports that most people never read.”

“Our objective was to make complex data impossible to ignore,” said Federico Fanti, Regional Chief Creative Officer, FP7 McCANN MENAT. “By making it continuously visible, both online and in the real world, we ensured it reached the people who have the power to act. The argument against wind energy was built on missing data. Spoor produced it. The Birdwatcher makes sure the world sees it.”