Painting one wind turbine blade black significantly reduces bird deaths

Research by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research has produced some pretty convincing evidence that a simple expedient like painting one blade of a wind turbine black can have a huge effect on the number of birds killed by the turbines' spinning blades.
Scientists have been trialling this idea at the Smøla wind farm in Norway since 2013, and their results show that turbines with one black black result in 70% fewer bird deaths than all-white turbines. The spinning white blades of a turbine can confuse birds and blur their vision due to "motion smear". Simply painting one of the blades black (or presumably any other colour) breaks up the smear and makes the turbine more visible to birds, giving them time to avoid a potentially fatal encounter.
While bird deaths from turbines have often been overstated (and it certainly pales into insignificance as a source of bird deaths when compared to cars and cats), it has been a sticking point for many environmentalists. This simple, cheap idea could significantly help the cause of renewable energy.