It has become common for seabirds that normally nest near open water to appear in deserts, where there is often little or no water at all.
However, many are now flying much farther than usual, eventually circling large arrays of solar panels instead of continuing toward real bodies of water. When this happens, the birds appear lost.
Seeing seabirds in a desert should make no sense.
So why are they ending up at solar plants in the middle of dry land?
Seabirds appearing far from any natural water source
Workers in the desert regions of California, which include many large-scale solar farms, have reported finding dead and injured birds near their work areas.
Most of the birds involved are species dependent upon water, and a number have been located miles from any natural water source.
It clearly wasn’t happening by chance.
As soon as comparable complaints appeared at solar facilities, media coverage was broad. Multiple reports indicated that birds crashed into the panels or became trapped in excessive heat when attempting to land on them.
This indicates that something is attracting them to those locations.
Unusual behavior around solar plants
Instead of merely flying past these locations, the birds begin to circle them.
Sometimes they come straight down onto the panels as though preparing to land.
Each time, they behave as if they are seeing water, and that pattern occurred repeatedly with migrating birds, which are searching for a place to rest and feed.
Pelicans, grebes, as well as many other bird species that depend on water also exhibited the same pattern of error at each site.
It does seem that whatever the birds were seeing was not random at all.
Similar to findings reported in the research report “Investigating the ‘Lake Effect’ Influence on Avian Behavior from California’s Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Solar Facilities,” which included authors from Stanford University.
Why are there seabirds in the desert near solar plants?
Birds were continuously observed making their way to the man-made dry structures over and over again.
Initially, it was unclear why birds continued to fly toward what seemed like an unnatural structure with little apparent function or value to them.
As the reports continued to come in from each location, it started to become apparent that certain patterns were being observed with regard to birds. Workers reported on multiple occasions observing groups of birds visiting their work locations.
Individual birds were also observed flying around a particular area on many different days.
Eventually, an explanation for this behavior began to emerge as workers realized more about how birds view landscapes.
The illusion created by reflective surfaces
When researchers took a closer look at how birds find water, it became much clearer.
Birds don’t view the world as we humans do.
They use reflected light to see the location of water from a great distance.
Solar panels can create an illusion called the “lake effect,” making them appear to be a shiny body of water.
That’s why desert solar farms have large numbers of seabirds showing up there, because they’re attracted to something that looks like a source of life.
When they arrive, many of the birds may have traveled long distances, may already be exhausted, and simply want to find a safe landing spot.
A reflective surface viewed from a distance can be convincing-looking.
So, they descend. They don’t realize the danger until it’s too late.
That’s why many seabirds end up descending toward these surfaces, mistaking them for water they depend on to survive.
If birds can be misled this easily by something we’ve built, what might happen as more of these structures continue to spread?