Zeearend Haliaeetus albicilla in Oostelijk Flevoland gedood door windturbine

On 14 November 2008, a first-year female White-tailed Eagle was found dead underneath a wind turbine in Oostelijk Flevoland, a 54,000 ha large polder in the central Netherlands. Its right wing was detached from the body and its head damaged, apparently the result of a collision with the rotor blade. The White-tailed Eagle was found underneath a wind turbine with a height of 80 m, excluding blades, one of a series of 19 spaced 350 m apart, with a second line of 9 turbines perpendicular to the first line. The bird was in good condition (5450 g) and had been dead for 5-7 days. This was the first casualty by a wind turbine among White-tailed Eagles in The Netherlands. Wintering numbers in The Netherlands amount to several tens (at most) in recent years. Breeding in The Netherlands commenced in 2006 in the nearby Oostvaardersplassen, this pair, still the only one in The Netherlands, produced four fledglings in 2006-08, of which the last three were ringed and colour-ringed. As the bird killed by the wind turbine was unringed, it follows that it must have been an immigrant. In Flevoland alone, some 600 wind turbines are now spaced throughout the polders, mostly so in Oostelijk and Zuidelijk Flevoland. This number is expected to be reduced to 400 by 2020, but turbine size will increase to heights of 180 m (excluding blades).