Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are currently protected in the United States under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 and Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Given these protections and the increasing development of wind energy throughout the United States, it is important for regulators and the wind industry to understand the risk of bald eagle collisions with wind turbines. Prior probability distributions for eagle exposure rates and collision rates have been developed for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Given similar information has not been available for bald eagles, the current recommendation by the USFWS is to use the prior probability distributions developed using data collected on golden eagles to predict take for bald eagles. But some evidence suggests that bald and golden eagles may be at different risk for collision with wind turbines and the prior probability distributions developed for golden eagles may not be appropriate for bald eagles. We developed prior probability distributions using data collected at MidAmerican Energy Company's operating wind energy facilities in Iowa, USA, from December 2014 to March 2017 for bald eagle exposure rates and collision rates. The prior probability distribution for collision rate developed for bald eagles has a lower mean collision rate and less variability relative to that developed for golden eagles. We determined that the prior probability distributions specific to bald eagles from these operating facilities are a better starting point for predicting take for bald eagles at operating wind energy facilities in an agricultural landscape than those developed for golden eagles. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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预测风能设施中的秃鹰碰撞

秃鹰（Haliaeetus leucocephalus）目前在美国受到1940年《秃头和金鹰保护法》和1918年《候鸟条约》的保护。鉴于这些保护措施以及整个美国风能的不断发展，对于监管机构和风能行业了解秃鹰与风力涡轮机碰撞的风险。已经为金鹰开发了鹰暴露率和碰撞率的先验概率分布（天鹰座chrysaetos），由美国鱼类和野生动物服务局（USFWS）提供。鉴于没有类似的信息可用于秃鹰，USFWS的当前建议是使用使用在金鹰上收集的数据开发的先验概率分布来预测秃鹰的捕获量。但是一些证据表明，秃头和金鹰与风力涡轮机发生碰撞的风险不同，并且为金鹰开发的先验概率分布可能不适用于秃头。我们使用2014年12月至2017年3月在美国爱荷华州中美洲能源公司的运营中的风能设施收集的数据开发了先验概率分布，用于秃鹰暴露率和碰撞率。相对于金鹰来说，为白头鹰开发的碰撞率先验概率分布具有较低的平均碰撞率和较小的可变性。我们确定，相对于金鹰，从这些运营设施中特定于秃鹰的先验概率分布是预测在农业景观中正在运营的风能设施中秃鹰采捕量的更好的起点。©2021野生动物协会。