Birds attracted to the light are being scorched to death by the panels (Picture: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

California wildlife officials say birds are bursting into flame over the Mojave Desert as a result of intensely focused rays of light from a solar energy plant.

The BrightSource Energy Plant uses a process called the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which uses more than 300,000 mirrors larger than garage doors to focus the sun’s power towards ‘power towers’, which can then power up to 140,000 homes.

However, the $2.2billion (£1.3billion) plant has wreaked havoc on local wildlife, with experts saying that up to 28,000 birds could die within a year as they prey on bugs that are drawn to the light and scorched to death as they fly near the panels.

Pilots are being dazzled by the power plant (Picture: BrightSource Energy)

Experts say they dubbed the birds ‘streamers’ – because of the stream of smoke that emanates from the birds when they catch fire – and that in the middle of the day, they counted one bird being incinerated every two minutes.


The plant, which is co-owned by Google, is so bright that pilots flying in and out of Los Angeles and Las Vegas have trouble seeing.