The latest paper from the WINDHARRIER project looking at interactions between Hen Harriers and wind energy developments is now available online. Using data from the national Hen Harrier surveys and wind farm locations, we found a considerable geographical and altitudinal overlap between Hen Harrier breeding distribution and wind farms in Ireland. We also found a marginally non-significant negative relationship between Hen Harrier population trends and wind farm presence in areas of overlap. Future work using data from the latest survey (2015) will allow us to better understand how these developments are affecting one of Ireland’s most endangered birds.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00063657.2016.1262815
Mark Wilson, Darío Fernández-Bellon, Sandra Irwin, John O’Halloran. 2016. Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus population trends in relation to wind farms. Bird Study, online. [doi: 10.1080/00063657.2016.1262815]
