Wederom een dode Zeearend Haliaeetus albicilla door een aanvaring met een windturbine in Flevoland

A freshly dead White-tailed Eagle was found in the province of Flevoland on 20 March 2018. Plumage and moult stage indicated a bird in its fourth calendaryear, a male according to the autopsy. X-ray photographs and a CT-scan showed a complicated fracture of the metacarpal of the left wing and the mid-leg bone of the left leg; one of the phalanxes of the right leg was also broken. Autopsy further showed a fractured liver and abundant blood in the body cavity, indicative of a collision with a hard object. Lead shot was not recorded. The autopsy findings and the discovery site at less than 100 m from a wind turbine indicate that the cause of death was collision with a wind turbine. This is the second reported casualty of a White-tailed Eagle after collision with a wind turbine in Flevoland, where eagles and turbines are relatively common. Both birds were found accidentally by the public.