A new study suggests thousands of birds could be saved by painting one blade on each wind turbine black.

The last 20 years have seen countless birds killed by wind turbines as the blades come crashing down during flight.

Trials on the Norwegian island of Smola found bird deaths fell by 72 per cent after a blade on each of four turbines was painted black, compared with four neighbouring turbines that remained all white.

Kestrels, snipe and golden plover were among the species which benefitted but the biggest winner was white-tailed eagles.

Six of the eagles, which have an 8ft wing span, were killed by the four turbines in the seven and a half years before a blade on each was painted. None has been killed in the three and a half years since.

Kestrels have benefitted from the scheme CREDIT: Andreas Trepte

According to The Times, there are no precise figures for the number of birds killed by wind turbines partly, because their carcasses are quickly scavenged on land and drift away at sea.

The London School of Economics estimated in 2014 that by 2020 there could be between 9,600 and 106,000 bird deaths a year as a result of wind energy generation in the UK.

There are 8,600 onshore and 2,300 much bigger offshore turbines in the UK, with plans for thousands more to help to meet climate changetargets.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s director for conservation, told The Times: “Wind turbines are the right technology when we find the right places for them. So studies like this are valuable and build on our understanding of what additional mitigation could be used once we identify locations suitable for wind farms.”