Lack of Avoidance Behavior in Wind Farms by Young Spanish Imperial Eagles

Wind farms are known to trigger avoidance behaviour leading to habitat loss in some raptors. The recovery of the Spanish imperial eagle, Aquila adalberti, in Cadiz, a Spanish province with a high density of wind farms, is of concern. Macro-displacement was studied by comparing juvenile density between wind farms and control areas. Meso-displacement was studied comparing actual density in each 200 m interval of distance around turbines against a random distribution, assuming no-avoidance, controlling for the influence of other environmental factors. We found no evidence of avoidance at macro scale. At meso scale, using density method, we did not find any evidence supporting eagle avoidance behaviour. The study of avoidance behaviours is an ongoing topic that can help to improve conservation and management decisions, especially for species sensitive to the presence of wind farms and other threatening infrastructures in their habitats.