As solar projects proliferate across the U.S., researchers are keen to learn how wildlife interacts with them.
Last month, a University of Dayton professor published some intriguing findings relating to birds nests.
Associate professor of biology Chelse Prather, along with a cohort of undergrad and graduate students, studied how native bird species adapt around solar panel arrays through an environmental research methods course in fall 2023.
Prather believes this was the first study to examine nest architecture on solar arrays.
“It's a very new area and ecologists are kind of just now thinking ‘wow we really need to try and understand the effects that these structures that we're putting out on very large areas can have on the environment,” Prather said.
That research took place right within the Dayton region, with one solar array on the University of Dayton campus and one solar array on Mount Saint John’s property in Beavercreek observed in the study.
Altogether, the cohort observed 67 nests of the House finch, American Robin and House sparrow species. The most notable finding was how the American robin nested on moving solar panels found on UD’s campus. The research group found these birds made their nests taller, warmer, and more secure so they wouldn’t fall during movement.
“These birds still find a way to utilize them. And that's really the goal of a lot of people that are trying to make usable habitats underneath these solar arrays – to attract native species and make it a biodiverse area.”
This discovery suggests that bird species adapt their nesting behavior in human-modified environments.
According to the study, “in dynamic or exposed environments, birds often build more robust, deeper, or elevated nests to maintain structural integrity and ensure reproductive success.”
The study also finds that the temperature under solar panels tends to be lower because the sun isn’t able to warm it up.
“In general, the warmer the temperature of the nest, the faster eggs will hatch,” said Prather.
Prather said it’s important to know that animals are able to cohabitate with these structures.
“These birds still find a way to utilize them. And that's really the goal of a lot of people that are trying to make usable habitats underneath these solar arrays – to attract native species and make it a biodiverse area,” Prather said.
Solar developers can use this research to design the arrays to be able handle wildlife, Prather said. She hopes to continue this research by tracking the number of eggs in the nests and see how many successfully hatch.
