| Summary: | Although wind power has proven to be a key component in the efforts of fighting climate change, their harmful effects on avian wildlife has raised increasingly prominent concerns. As the development of wind power is expected to continue at a faster pace, the potential increase in fatal bird collisions is immense. Large-bodied, soaring birds are known to be particularly at risk, for which the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is quintessential. In this study, the collision risk for white-tailed eagles were predicted and extrapolated to the entire landscape of central and northern Norway (i.e. mapping their landscape of risk). The predictions were based on satellite telemetry data, showing the wide-ranging movements patterns of 34 sub-adult individuals. Their total predicted collision risk across the landscape was found by combining the results of three predictive models, including their resource selection, their risk flight height (50 – 185 m), and a mathematical model centered on direct collision risk. Furthermore, the final predictive collision risk maps were used to assess the collision risk of existing wind farms within the study area. During their movements along the coast, white-tailed eagles are also prone to cumulative effects of several wind farms. Hence, the movement trajectories of each eagle were used to estimate the cumulative collision risk based on the risk levels of each intersected wind farm. The resource selection revealed that white-tailed eagles were most likely to appear in sparsely vegetated, coastal lowlands. They also favored steep slopes, which aligns nicely with their exploitation of orographic uplift for soaring flight. The probability of flying at risk heights also increased in slopes, while the direct collision risk was more evenly distributed across the landscape. The total predicted collision risk based on all model results was notably higher in the steep coastal landscapes along the Norwegian fjords and declined rapidly with increasing topographic elevation. For the risk ...
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