Wildlife

Massive Solar Power Plant Setting Birds on Fire

Many thousands of birds are said to have caught fire in midair above a massive solar-thermal power plant near the California-Nevada border since it began operating in February.

Workers at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System call the dying birds “streamers,” because of the trail of smoke they leave behind after igniting.

Federal investigators say they counted an average of one bird catching fire every two minutes during their survey.

The $2.2 billion plant consists of three towers surrounded by an array of more than 300,000 mirrors, which some pilots say nearly blinded them as they flew past.

The California chapter of the Audubon Society calls the deaths “alarming,” and one of the three companies behind the plant, NRG Solar, said it is taking the issue “very seriously.”

Federal wildlife officials call the plant a “mega-trap” because its bright light attracts insect-eating birds that get lured to a fiery death.

Plant operators say they are looking at ways to frighten the birds away or redirect them from the plant’s glaring danger.