In fact scientists with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and RSPB found that in many cases building the turbines was more disruptive than operating them.
The research, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology (click here for details), looked at 18 onshore wind farms on mainland Britain and studied the impact on ten bird species, none of which were raptors.
The species were Red Grouse, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Snipe, Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Stonechat, and Whinchat.
Impacts varied between species, with red grouse numbers recovering after construction, curlews declining and not recovering, and skylarks increasing.