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Prioritizing strain insulators for raptor conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2021

FRANCISCO GUIL Open the ORCID record for FRANCISCO GUIL [Opens in a new window] ,
M. ÁNGELES SORIA ,
VÍCTOR ORTEGA ,
RUBÉN GARCÍA-SÁNCHEZ  and
SILVIA VILLAVERDE-MORCILLO
FRANCISCO GUIL*
Affiliation:
Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographical Challenge. Plaza San Juan de la Cruz, S/N. 28071. Madrid, Spain.
M. ÁNGELES SORIA
Affiliation:
Tragsa Group. C/ Conde de Peñalver, 84. 28006. Madrid, Spain.
VÍCTOR ORTEGA
Affiliation:
Fieb Foundation (Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad, FIEB). Camino El Álamo S/N. 45950. Casarrubios del Monte, Toledo, Spain.
RUBÉN GARCÍA-SÁNCHEZ
Affiliation:
Fieb Foundation (Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad, FIEB). Camino El Álamo S/N. 45950. Casarrubios del Monte, Toledo, Spain. Centro de Recuperación de Animales Silvestres (CRAS). Arr. de Soto de Viñuelas, s/n, 28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain.
SILVIA VILLAVERDE-MORCILLO
Affiliation:
Fieb Foundation (Fundación para la Investigación en Etología y Biodiversidad, FIEB). Camino El Álamo S/N. 45950. Casarrubios del Monte, Toledo, Spain. Centro de Recuperación de Animales Silvestres (CRAS). Arr. de Soto de Viñuelas, s/n, 28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain.
*
*Author for correspondence; email: fguil@miteco.es
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Summary

Avian species often take advantage of human-made structures, such as perching on power poles, although this can lead to negative effects for both birds and infrastructure. It has been demonstrated that anchor-type pylons, with strain insulators, are amongst the most dangerous of these structures. Our goal was to develop a methodological approach to evaluate the ways in which raptors perch on the six most commonly used strain insulator configurations in Spain, and to build a risk index that can be used to prioritise them. To study the ways raptors perch, we worked with six wildlife rescue centres in central Spain for almost a year assessing these six strain insulator configurations in 83 perch trials with 176 raptors in ample flying pens. We analysed 475 complete survey days, with an approximate number of 258,960 analysed pictures, including 6,766 perchings on strain insulators. We assessed the influential factors for these 6,766 perchings and developed a novel approach to prioritise strain insulator configurations that can be used anywhere. Our results suggest that longer insulator strains (i.e. PECA-1000 and Caon-C3670) are the safest, according to our prioritization criteria, although these results require further assessment in the field. Managers and conservationists should take into account these results to improve management and conservation actions.

Keywords

ElectrocutionPower polesRaptors
Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 379 - 394
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International

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