Effectiveness of an artificial intelligence-based system to curtail wind turbines to reduce eagle collisions.

Operating wind-power projects often includes protecting volant wildlife. One method for doing this uses an automated system to detect, identify (through use of artificial intelligence; AI), track animals (targets) and curtail turbines when risk of a collision is high. However, assessments of the effectiveness, in terms of identification accuracy and subsequent turbine curtailment of such systems are lacking.

Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production.

Renewable energy production can kill individual birds, but little is known about how it affects avian populations. We assessed the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at wind and solar facilities in California, USA. Bayesian hierarchical models suggested that 48% of these species were vulnerable to population-level effects from added fatalities caused by renewables and other sources.

Classifying behavior from short-interval biologging data: An example with GPS tracking of birds.

Recent advances in digital data collection have spurred accumulation of immense quantities of data that have potential to lead to remarkable ecological insight, but that also present analytic challenges. In the case of biologging data from birds, common analytical approaches to classifying movement behaviors are largely inappropriate for these massive data sets.We apply a framework for using -means clustering to classify bird behavior using points from short time interval GPS tracks.

Age-specific survival rates, causes of death, and allowable take of golden eagles in the western United States.

In the United States, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits take of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) unless authorized by permit, and stipulates that all permitted take must be sustainable. Golden eagles are unintentionally killed in conjunction with many lawful activities (e.g.

Eagles enter rotor-swept zones of wind turbines at rates that vary per turbine.

There is increasing pressure on wind energy facilities to manage or mitigate for wildlife collisions. However, little information exists regarding spatial and temporal variation in collision rates, meaning that mitigation is most often a blanket prescription. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated variation among turbines and months in an aspect of collision risk-probability of entry by an eagle into a rotor-swept zone (hereafter, "probability of entry").

Limitations, lack of standardization, and recommended best practices in studies of renewable energy effects on birds and bats.

Increasing global energy demand is fostering the development of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. However, renewable energy facilities may adversely affect wildlife. Facility siting guidelines recommend or require project developers complete pre- and postconstruction wildlife surveys to predict risk and estimate effects of proposed projects.

Golden Eagle fatalities and the continental-scale consequences of local wind-energy generation.

Renewable energy production is expanding rapidly despite mostly unknown environmental effects on wildlife and habitats. We used genetic and stable isotope data collected from Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) killed at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in California in demographic models to test hypotheses about the geographic extent and demographic consequences of fatalities caused by renewable energy facilities. Geospatial analyses of δ H values obtained from feathers showed that ≥25% of these APWRA-killed eagles were recent immigrants to the population, most from long distances away (>100 km).

Chronic lead exposure is epidemic in obligate scavenger populations in eastern North America.

Lead is a prominent and highly toxic contaminant with important impacts to wildlife. To understand the degree to which wildlife populations are chronically exposed, we quantified lead levels within American black vultures (Coragyps atratus; BLVU) and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura; TUVU), two species that are useful as environmental sentinels in eastern North America. Every individual sampled (n=108) had bone lead levels indicative of chronic exposure to anthropogenic lead (BLVU: x¯=36.

Testing an emerging paradigm in migration ecology shows surprising differences in efficiency between flight modes.

To maximize fitness, flying animals should maximize flight speed while minimizing energetic expenditure. Soaring speeds of large-bodied birds are determined by flight routes and tradeoffs between minimizing time and energetic costs. Large raptors migrating in eastern North America predominantly glide between thermals that provide lift or soar along slopes or ridgelines using orographic lift (slope soaring).