A simple coat of black paint on the white blade of a wind turbine could save countless birds from flying into the machines and to their deaths each year. It’s working in Norway, and now researchers from Oregon State University are trying it in the West. With $400,000 allocated by the state Legislature, Christian Hagen, an associate professor in the university’s Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, is leading a team that’s painting turbines at a PacifiCorp wind farm in Wyoming. A doctoral student and officials with the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Energy are collaborating on the project.