The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a magnificent bird, a large raptor that can weigh up to eight pounds and can have a wingspan of over seven feet. They tend to favor rocky, mountainous terrain and wild places, and are a circumpolar species, found all over the northern hemisphere. They have powerful, hooked beaks for tearing flesh and huge, hooked talons for seizing prey - and they regularly prey on animals as large as foxes.
Here in the United States, golden eagles are found primarily in the Rockies. Their numbers have been dropping since about 1980, from approximately 80,000 then to about 30,000 now, and the advent of wind-power mills may be about to push them over the brink.
The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act specifically says that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) cannot issue more “take” (that is kill) permits than the population can survive. Two new studies together imply that the golden eagle wind-kill taking is at that limit or beyond.
This is troubling news, and the bad part is that it's entirely preventable; there have been plenty of people, since the advent of these big, ugly, "green" boondoggles.
The first study indicates that we are already at the "allowable" number of eagle deaths.
The first study is “Age-specific survival rates, causes of death, and allowable take of Golden Eagles in the western United States,” Ecological Applications, January 2022 and it is here.
The primary point is to estimate the allowable take (death rate from human action) under the law and compare that to the present death rate. Their allowable take estimate is a range with a median of 2,227 deaths per year, while their estimated actual take is actually greater at 2,572 annual deaths.
These are very rough numbers, so the basic point is it looks like we are already at the allowable take. Adding a lot of eagle-killing wind turbines could put the Golden Eagle on the illegal road to extinction. Clearly, caution is called for.
The second study is an attempt to measure the actual wind-kill numbers, and the results there are not encouraging.
The second study attempts to quantify the wind-killing threat. The study is “Estimated Golden Eagle mortality from wind turbines in the western United States,” Biological Conservation, February 2025, here.
Their primary conclusion is this: “Anthropogenic mortality is the primary cause of death in adult Golden Eagles and recent trends indicate their population may be declining. If the current rate of growth of the wind energy industry continues, it could have conservation implications for Golden Eagle and other raptor populations.”
They use a collision risk model that combines the spatial population density of the eagles with the spatial density of the spinning blades. This captures the fact that in addition to wind turbines getting more numerous, they are also getting much bigger.
The thumbnail is this: Windmills, pushed for by green energy advocates who are forever shouting about climate change and the need for renewable energy, are killing one of the most magnificent creatures on the planet, and they may well be nearing the point of no return.
See Also: A Look At the One Practical 'Renewable' Energy - Geothermal
When windmill farms are approved for construction, they are assigned an allowable take for birds in general. The specific problems with golden eagles, though, are their rather low population density related to other raptors, and their habit of using the updrafts off rocky ridges to soar - and those are places where a near-constant wind makes for more reliable than usual generation from windmills. An eagle whose mate is killed - they mate for life - may be unable to find another, further endangering the species.
We should note, also, that the United States Fish & Wildlife Service is holding the numbers of raptors and other birds killed by windmills as a secret, which is, to say the least, baffling.
See Also: Federal Fish and Wildlife Service Is Hiding Windmill-Related Eagle Deaths
Extinction is a reality. The vast majority - approaching 99 percent - of the species that have lived on this planet are now extinct. But that doesn't mean humans should be capricious, or that we should allow an expensive, unreliable boondoggle to recklessly endanger one of the most magnificent predatory birds on the planet. Wind power fails every test of what is required for our modern, technological lifestyle; it is intermittent, it is unreliable, it is expensive, and it is low energy density.
And it kills eagles. Oh, and it kills whales, too. The United States Fish & Wildlife Service owes it to the American people to reveal how many raptors are killed by these things - and to issue no further permits in any areas where golden eagles are found, at least until a more comprehensive evaluation of their population is available.
