I believe the original issue with birds on windmills were when the old ones out west had lattice towers. The birds would perch on them. Then when they took off they would get shredded.
But now with the new pole design (I'm not sure of the term for this) the birds can no longer perch on them so only the occasional passing bird gets shredded.
I can personally attest to the noise factor. I believe currently MN is 2nd in the nation for power produced from wind generators. I have been underneath and inside the towers. The noise factor is negligable.