Vulture chicks and rare bird eggs seized at Heathrow airport

Man arrested and bailed after discovery of 19 eggs from South African birds of prey

Press Association

Fri 29 Jun 2018 13.44 BSTLast modified on Fri 29 Jun 2018 17.05 BST

Two vulture chicks and more than a dozen eggs containing rare and endangered species have been seized at Heathrow airport.

Border Force officers confiscated 19 eggs, two of which had hatched, from a man who had arrived on a flight from South Africa.

While the exact species have not yet been identified, the eggs, which had been concealed in a body belt, were from South African birds of prey including vultures, eagles, hawks and kites, the Home Office said.

Border Force specialist officers identified that the eggs were protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The chicks and eggs were being cared for at a specialist facility, the Home Office said.

The man, 56, was arrested and bailed pending further inquiries. The investigation has been passed to the National Crime Agency.

Source  

Detection, deterrent system will help eagles, wind turbines coexist better

Date:  March 19, 2018

Source:  Oregon State University

Researchers have taken a key step toward helping wildlife coexist more safely with wind power generation by demonstrating the success of an impact detection system that uses vibration sensors mounted to turbine blades.

The findings are important because while wind power is generally regarded as green energy, danger to birds -- particularly federally protected bald eagles and golden eagles -- is a concern.

Corresponding author Roberto Albertani and collaborators at the OSU College of Engineering and the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science's Hatfield Marine Science Center have created an integrated sensor system that can tell if a bird or bat hits a turbine.

The system can also determine what species was involved in the collision.

"If a turbine strikes a generic bird, sad as that is, it's not as critical as striking a protected golden eagle, which could potentially trigger down time in turbine operations and losses in revenue, and most important the loss of a member of a protected species," said Albertani, Boeing Professor of Mechanical Engineering Design at Oregon State University.

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Scouting the eagles: Proof that protecting nests aids reproduction

Date:  January 9, 2018

Source:  University of Wisconsin-Madison

Summary:

Reproduction among bald eagles in a remote national park in Minnesota was aided when their nests were protected from human disturbance, according to a new study.

The study, by researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison, the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, focused on a nest-protection program that was based on the logical assumption that endangered birds would reproduce and prosper if people are kept away from their nests.

The assumption was logical, but unproven, says study author Ben Zuckerberg, an associate professor of wildlife ecology at UW-Madison. By combining more than 40 years of data from Voyageurs National Park, along the Canadian border, he, post-doctoral researcher Jennyffer Cruz and colleagues found that the breeding population of bald eagles at Voyageurs rose from fewer than 10 pairs in the late 1970s to 48 pairs by 2016.

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Eagles migrate through bad weather to arrive in time to nest

Date: April 5, 2017

Source: American Ornithological Society Publications Office

Migration is tough, and birds do everything they can to optimize it. How do factors like weather and experience affect the strategies they choose? A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that older, more experienced Golden Eagles actually migrate in poorer weather conditions and cover less ground than their younger counterparts, but for a good reason -- they're timing their efforts around raising the next generation of eagles.

Adrian Rus of Boise State University (now at Australia's University of Sydney), Todd Katzner of the USGS, and their colleagues studied GPS telemetry tracks to evaluate the migratory performance of almost 90 Golden Eagles in eastern North America and determine how performance related to season, age, and weather. Unsurprisingly, eagles flew faster and farther when they had strong tailwinds and thermals to help them along. What was counterintuitive, however, was that older eagles did not cover more ground than younger eagles despite their greater experience. Instead, older eagles migrated in poorer weather conditions and travelled more slowly.

The researchers believe this is because older birds face different pressures than younger birds. Even if the weather is bad and will slow them down, they need to start heading north earlier than young birds that aren't breeding, because they have to get back to their breeding grounds in time to reclaim their territories and start nesting. "Younger eagles just need to survive the summer, so they can be choosy about when they travel north and only migrate when conditions are really ideal for fast soaring flight," explains Katzner.

Lead author Adrian Rus, who worked on the study as an undergraduate, enjoyed the challenges involved in analyzing the migration data. "The best part about working on this project was using specialized software to visualize the golden eagle migrations and being able to pair it with meteorological data to answer my biological questions," he says. "As a result, the project greatly improved my geospatial and statistical analysis skills and was instrumental my current graduate research in animal movement ecology."

Read on

40 eagles, 10 years, 0 prosecutions

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Roseanna Cunningham has responded to this morning’s news (read her statement here) by calling for an analysis of the satellite tag data from around 90 surviving and missing eagles “to discover if there is a pattern of suspicious activity“. It just beggars belief. We’ll shortly be blogging in more detail about her response and that of the Scottish Moorland Group, which is equally as fatuous.

In the meantime, please sign this petition (here) calling on the Scottish Government to introduce a licensing scheme for gamebird shooting.

And then please sign this petition (here) calling on the Westminster Government to ban driven grouse shooting.

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Texas tech researcher aiding in study of eagle interaction with wind turbines

Date: June 2, 2016

Source: Texas Tech University

In the avian world, the eagle is known as the apex predator, meaning no other bird considers an eagle its prey. The eagle is on the top of the avian food chain.

But that doesn't mean they live without dangers, most of them humanmade. There's one humanmade danger in particular that Texas Tech University professor Clint Boal is working with several governmental agencies to discover ways to mitigate golden eagle deaths as much as possible.

With the push toward clean energy, West Texas and Eastern New Mexico have seen a tremendous growth in the popularity and construction of wind turbine farms. But those farms, while essential to ending the United States' dependency on fossil fuels, have created a danger for the golden eagle in the same areas.

"Wind energy development throughout the western U.S. is ongoing and rampant, and it is an important renewable energy source and we all recognize that," said Boal, a professor in the Department of Natural Resources Management in the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. "But it doesn't come without some ecological cost that can be either displacement of wildlife or the direct mortality of wildlife. If the species is really abundant, it may not be a substantive issue. But when you have a species that is not as abundant, has a long life span, and has low productivity, it does become an issue."

That's why the research Boal and his colleagues are performing is so important. Boal, a member of the United States Geological Survey's Cooperative Research Unit at Texas Tech, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Region 2 office and its Western Golden Eagle Team, are in the process of studying golden eagle movements and potential interactions with wind turbines.

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Wind Company Convicted in Deaths of Eagles, Other Birds

by Chris Clarke 

December 19, 2014 2:42 PM

A Portland-based wind energy company that recently sued the federal government to keep its bird death data secret has been convicted in federal court over deaths of protected birds at two of its wind facilities in Wyoming.

The carcasses of 38 golden eagles were found at PacifiCorp Energy's "Seven Mile Hill" and "Glenrock/Rolling Hills" installations in Carbon and Converse counties between 2009 and this year, along with 336 other birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, PacificCorp disregarded risk to eagles and other birds when it built its turbines at the two facilities.

"PacifiCorp Energy built two of its Wyoming wind projects in a manner it knew would likely result in the deaths of eagles and other protected birds," said Sam Hirsch, the U.S Department of Justice's Acting Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources.

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Conservation group sues Obama administration to protect eagles from wind turbines

BY DINA CAPPIELLO, ASSOCIATED PRESS June 19, 2014 at 10:55 AM EDT

WASHINGTON — A conservation group says it’s suing the Obama administration over a new federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to seek approval to kill or injure eagles for 30 years.

The lawsuit from the American Bird Conservancy was expected to be filed Thursday in federal court in San Jose, California. A copy of the complaint was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The group argues that the rule, which extended by 25 years the length of time companies may kill or injure eagles without fear of prosecution, is illegal because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to evaluate the consequences and ensure it would not damage eagle populations. The Obama administration classified the rule as an administrative change, excluding it from a full environmental review.

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Congress challenges EPA over wind power “free pass to kill eagles”

By Jack Minor –

House Republicans are seeking information on whether the Obama administration is once again choosing which laws to enforce or not by granting what are essentially waivers to wind energy farms to kill eagles while fining oil and gas companies for similar deaths.

Forbes reported that on March 11, a subpoena was issued to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the House Natural Resources Committee over documents related to the Migratory Bird Act Treaty and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The records requested include every case file for each incident that has occurred since 2009.

The issue came up as a result of recent revelations that the Obama administration was going to essentially be giving wind farms an exemption from the law for eagles that die from flying into the fast moving blades. The president has long heralded wind energy as an alternative to the current oil and gas industry.

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GOP: Administration stonewalling on bird deaths

Posted: Mar 26, 2014 5:42 PM GSTUpdated: Mar 26, 2014 9:25 PM GST

By MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is refusing to turn over documents related to enforcement of environmental laws at wind farms where dozens of eagles and other protected birds have been killed, House Republicans charged Wednesday.

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the Fish and Wildlife Service has engaged in a "deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers" for nearly a year. Hastings is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which has been seeking to compel the wildlife agency turn over internal documents related to its enforcement of laws protecting eagles and other birds.

An Associated Press investigation last year revealed that the administration was not prosecuting wind energy companies for killing eagles and other protected birds.

Only one wind energy company has been prosecuted for killing eagles and other birds in violation of federal law. Duke Energy pleaded guilty in November to killing eagles and other birds at two Wyoming wind farms and will pay $1 million.

The government estimates that at least 85 eagles are killed each year by wind turbines.

The wildlife agency "dragged its feet for six months" before providing a two-page memo written the year before, Hastings said, and many of the documents that have been turned over so far are incomplete or have largely been blacked out.

"This is not compliance. This is deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers, and we've had enough," Hastings said.

Committee members asked the agency's director, Dan Ashe, at a hearing Wednesday about a new agency rule allowing energy companies to kill or injure eagles without fear of prosecution for up to 30 years.

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Fighting eagles lock talons in Portland tree

By KOIN 6 News staffUpdated: Monday, March 3, 2014, 2:14 pmPublished: Monday, March 3, 2014, 12:43 pm

Two bald eagles appeared to be stuck together in a tree in Southeast Portland on Monday, March 3, 2014. (KOIN 6 News/Dean Barron)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two fighting eagles spiraled down into a tree in Southeast Portland and became locked by their talons, but flew off and continued fighting when wildlife officials approached.

Lacy Campbell with the Portland Audobon Society told KOIN 6 News the eagles took off once she and a wildlife veterinarian got within three feet of them in the tree at SE 55th Avenue and Division.

Crews from both the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Department and the US Fish & Wildlife plus the Audobon Society went to the site after they were called.

It’s normal at this time of the year for eagles to fight, Campbell said. Largely these are territorial battles, and she said the eagles continued to fight even while they were in the tree.

Once they flew off, the eagles continued fighting, with one chasing the other.

Sometimes the eagles will fight to the death, Campbell said, or until there’s a clear winner.

Continued

RSPB: Wind farm could kill a dozen eagles

RSPB Scotland published an estimate of the death toll and confirmed it will object to the proposal for 12 turbines on the Eisgein estate in the Isle of Lewis.

But Nick Oppenheim, the estate’s owner, accused the charity of double counting because the new development would be next door to a wind farm already given the go-ahead.

The estate, which is located on the Pairc peninsula of Lewis, is home to around a dozen pairs of breeding golden eagles, one of the highest densities in Europe.

It is also one of the favoured sites in the Western Isles for the controversial programme to reintroduce white-tailed sea eagles in Scotland.

However, energy company GDF SUEZ is already pressing ahead with plans for the 39-turbine Beinn Mhor wind farm on the estate.

Read further

Leading Bird Group Wants New DOI Secretary To Review Possible Revised Rule Weakening Eagle Protections For Wind Industry

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) called on the agency to suspend further consideration of a revised rule that would weaken protections provided to eagles pursuant to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, by allowing private companies to apply for an unprecedented 30-year permit to kill these iconic species.

ABC, one of the nation’s leading bird conservation groups, instead called for the rule to be shelved until Sally Jewell, President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Interior, has had time to fully review the proposal and evaluate its potential long-term impacts on eagle populations.

“The public places a high value on both Bald and Golden Eagles, two species that have inspired awe, pride, and patriotism in America’s citizens for generations. The Bald Eagle is America’s national symbol and was only removed from the endangered species list in 2007. Thus, this important and highly controversial decision should not be made without the full participation and careful consideration of the new Secretary of the Interior,” said Darin Schroeder, ABC’s vice president of Conservation Advocacy.

The new, far weaker, version of the eagle protection rule was drafted after requests from the wind energy industry, and represents a curious reversal of a FWS decision in 2009. At that time the USFWS wrote, “…the rule limits permit tenure to five years or less because factors may change over a longer period of time such that a take authorized much earlier would later be incompatible with the preservation of the Bald Eagle or the Golden Eagle.”

Read more:  http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/2/19/244769/Leading-Bird-Group-Wants-New-DOI.aspx

Rare, Iconic Bird Makes Wenham Appearance

It was a relatively rare sight on Wenham Lake on Friday.

A group of bald eagles was spotted on the lake, eating away at an animal carcass on the ice. It wasn’t the first time bald eagles have been seen on the lake, but the sight is somewhat rare.

Bald eagles were also seen on the lake back in 2007, according to a report in the Salem News at the time.

An amateur photographer from Beverly, Rob Whiting, told the paper at the time that he often photographs eagles on the Merrimack River but had not seen them in the Wenham area.

The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife does not have any evidence that the eagles are nesting on the lake, said assistant director Tom French. It is more likely that the birds are from Maine or Canada and are headed south to find warmer air.

“Having birds on the lake doesn’t mean they are nesting on the lake,” he said.

Yet French noted that the bird is one of the most recognizable creatures since it serves as the national bird and is on the quarter.

The eagles likely spotted "lunch" and stopped to eat.

The eagles like to nest in white pines and try to find an area protected from wind. A bald eagle nest can be up to five feet tall, up to 4-1/2 feet wide and weight up to a ton, French said.

Known nests are along the Merrimack River in Amesbury, Haverhill, Methuen and Tyngsboro, along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Framingham and on Lake Shirley in Lunenburg.

The location of 38 pairs of nexting eagles is known in Massachusetts, French said.

For more than 80 years in the 1900s, there were no known pairs of bald eagles with nests in Massachusetts, French said.

But with the help of 41 chicks that were brought here from Michigan plus Manitoba and Nova Scotia in Canada and released at the Quabbin Reservoir, that's growing.

“The population is starting to go up,” he said.

The presence of the birds on Wenham Lake on Friday attracted significant attention, causing cars to pull alongside Route 1A where it passes near the lake by Lakeview Golf Course in an area known as Pond Hill.

http://hamilton-wenham.patch.com/articles/rare-iconic-bird-makes-wenham-appearance

Gov't to allow Indians to possess eagle feathers

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Friday it is going to allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes to possess eagle feathers, although that's a federal crime.

This is a significant religious and cultural issue for many tribes, who were consulted in advance about the policy the department announced.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal wildlife laws criminalize the killing of eagles, which are listed as either endangered or threatened, and possession of feathers and bird parts, but the Constitution and federal laws also give tribes local sovereignty for self-government.

Under the new Justice Department policy, tribal members will not be prosecuted for wearing or carrying federally protected birds, bird feathers or parts. They also may pick up feathers found in the wild as long as they do not disturb federally protected birds or nests. Giving, lending or trading feathers or bird parts among tribe members, without any other compensation, also will be allowed.

While Justice did not previously have a written policy, the new directive is in line with long-standing practice by Justice prosecutors, U.S. attorneys and the Interior Department not to prosecute in such circumstances.

But the Justice Department will continue to prosecute tribe members and nonmembers alike for violating federal laws that prohibit killing eagles and other migratory birds or the buying or selling the feathers or other bird parts.

In addition, members of federally recognized tribes are covered by the new Justice Department policy regardless of whether they have a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a memo to U.S. attorney offices around the country.

Continued:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121012/us-justice-eagle-feathers/