When researchers at West Virginia University were trying to figure out why so
many golden eagles were being killed by wind turbines – and how to prevent it –
they decided they needed to know how the birds figured out where to fly.
And that led them to trying to understand whether birds opted to fly fast and
get to their feeding grounds early, but tired, or fly more slowly, and arrive
well-rested.
Why would that help with a solution to placement of wind turbines? If the answer
was "fast, but tired," then the birds would be choosing to fly in the
same areas that were also the best places for wind turbines – locations with
high winds.
The answer? Fast, but tired, according to a WVU news release.
"Our research shows that it is better to arrive on your breeding grounds early
– and presumably tired – than late and well-rested," said Adam Duerr, a
research biologist with the WVU Research Corp. "If an eagle is early, it can
reclaim its breeding territory from the previous year or lay claim to another
territory. Such early arrival will help to ensure successful breeding. Late
arrivals to breeding grounds run the risk of not acquiring a territory, not finding
a high-quality and experienced mate, or not finding a mate at all."
The impetus for the research is to understand risks that wind energy
development poses to golden eagles. Placement of wind turbines is
dependent upon adequate winds in terms of both speed and consistency.
"In the western United States., there are wind developments that kill multiple
golden eagles each year, Altamont Pass of California being the most extreme
with nearly 70 eagles killed per year," Duerr explained. "In the eastern United States, wind development is accelerating
with little understanding of the potential interaction between turbines and
eagles."
Additionally, the population of eastern golden eagles is small, about
2,000-5,000, and therefore vulnerable.
The team placed GPS-GSM transmitters on many eagles to record the specific
locations and altitudes of flight. For a subset of these eagles, WVU
wildlife biologist Trish Miller categorized flight types, and the team then
analyzed flight speed by flight type.
"Understanding flight speed helps us to understand the trade-offs between early
arrival and energy demands on breeding grounds," Duerr explained. "With
better understanding of such trade-offs, we have a much better understanding of
the age classes of eagles that are potentially at risk."
Flight speed, amount of time spent using different flight types, and altitude
of flight also play important roles in determining the amount of time that
eagles may spend at the same altitudes above ground level as spinning turbine
blades.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Partners in the
research came from Penn State, Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., the Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the West Virginia Division of Natural
Resources, the Ministries des Resources naturelles et de la Faunes of Quebec,
Canada, and the USDA Forest Service.
Their findings were published by PLoS ONE, an international, peer-reviewed,
open-access, online publication.
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