e-obs Stories & Publications

@misc{faure_early_2026,

title = {Early avoidance of human-dominated landscapes by juvenile Alpine golden eagles},

author = {Louise Faure and Yanni Gunnell and Hester Br\onnvik and Enrico Bassi and Martin U. Gr\"{u}ebler and David Jenny and Petra Sumasgutner and Martin Wikelski and Kamran Safi and Elham Nourani},

url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.30.702719v1},

doi = {10.64898/2026.01.30.702719},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-02-01},

urldate = {2026-02-17},

publisher = {bioRxiv},

abstract = {The expanding human footprint drives profound transformations in species, including not only morphological trait loss but also behavioural trait extinction. In contrast to behavioural trait extinction, which entails a reduction in genetic variability, behavioural plasticity maintains behavioural trait diversity and the associated genetic variability required for evolutionary adaptation. Yet, while behavioural plasticity shaping non-human capacity to coexist with humans has evolved under past, human-modified, environmental conditions, few studies have examined whether species retain a level of behavioural plasticity after past interactions with humans.Using data from 64 juveniles golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from a population demographically recovering after centuries of persecution, yet still restricted to less human-dominated alpine massifs, we tested whether human avoidance is innate or learned through experience during dispersal or parental influences during the pre-dispersal period. We performed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on landscape features used during the pre-dispersal and the first fifteen weeks of the dispersal phase, and used Mahalanobis distance as an indicator for quantifying changes in individual spatial behaviour over time.The lower frequency of use of human-dominated landscape features, compared with the more sparsely populated mid- and high-elevation landscape features, resulted from individuals’ consistent use of similar landscape features across the pre-dispersal and dispersal periods. Avoidance of humans was therefore better explained by a learning or imprinting process prior to dispersal, which predisposed individuals to use landscape features similar to those experienced during pre-dispersal, rather than by learning during dispersal, or by an innate avoidance.Imprinting on natal habitat features corroborates the observed limited range expansion of the alpine population beyond the massif borders. Differences among European populations in range recolonisation suggest contrasting histories of persecution, which may have left varying degrees of behavioural plasticity across populations.As a guide for future conservation priorities, these findings underscore the need to reconstruct past conditions and/or to document contemporary animal behaviour in order to build a library of behaviours that can be used in the future to track behavioural changes.},

note = {ISSN: 2692-8205 

Pages: 2026.01.30.702719 

Section: New Results},

keywords = {accelerometer, Bird Solar Cellular, eagle, Flying, Lifetime, raptor, Soaring},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {misc}

}

@misc{ferrer_lack_2026,

title = {Lack of Avoidance Behavior in Wind Farms by Young Spanish Imperial Eagles},

author = {Miguel Ferrer and Roberto Muriel and Ryan Bambusch and Jorge Garc\'{i}a-Mac\'{i}a and Virginia Morandini and Miguel Ferrer},

url = {https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202601.0850},

doi = {10.20944/preprints202601.0850.v1},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-02-17},

publisher = {Preprints},

abstract = {Wind farms are known to trigger avoidance behaviour leading to habitat loss in some raptors. The recovery of the Spanish imperial eagle, Aquila adalberti, in Cadiz, a Spanish province with a high density of wind farms, is of concern. Macro-displacement was studied by comparing juvenile density between wind farms and control areas. Meso-displacement was studied comparing actual density in each 200 m interval of distance around turbines against a random distribution, assuming no-avoidance, controlling for the influence of other environmental factors. We found no evidence of avoidance at macro scale. At meso scale, using density method, we did not find any evidence supporting eagle avoidance behaviour. The study of avoidance behaviours is an ongoing topic that can help to improve conservation and management decisions, especially for species sensitive to the presence of wind farms and other threatening infrastructures in their habitats.},

keywords = {accelerometer, avoidance behavior, avoidance behaviour, Bird Solar Cellular, density of locations, dispersal period, dispersal period; Spanish imperial eagle; wind farm; wind turbine, eagle, Flying, flying bird, human conflict, Lifetime, raptor, raptors, Soaring, Spanish imperial eagle, wind, wind farm, wind turbine},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {misc}

}