Bonelli's Eagle

For decades, a significant group of scientists, technicians, forest rangers, and rural agents have been monitoring the life cycle of a pair of Bonelli's eagles nesting in the Natural Park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac, (Catalonia, Spain) belonging to the network of Natural Parks of the Diputació de Barcelona (Barcelona provincial council). The aim was to understand various aspects of their life, such as their behaviour, the areas in which they hunt and nest, their reproductive success, the state of the habitats they frequent, and their prey. As a result of this research, actions have been taken to improve their habitat and adapt power lines to reduce the risk of electrocution and collisions.

In my role as a biodiversity conservation technician in the Natural Park for the past five years, I have greatly appreciated the solution implemented in collaboration with the international initiative Tech4Nature. This solution represents a significant step towards the goal of ensuring the conservation of this pair of raptors by regulating public use in both critical areas and periods for these protected species.

The current initiative provides us with the opportunity to address an outstanding challenge in the management of the Park, namely: obtaining accurate information on the annual distribution of these birds of prey, the human activities that take place in their nesting area (such as hiking, mountain biking, forest management and infrastructure maintenance), and the tolerance of the pair towards these activities according to their intensity, proximity and time of year.

The results of this monitoring will allow us to establish regulations based on the specific knowledge of this pair of Bonelli's eagles, complementing the broader studies carried out on this species in the Mediterranean basin and following the precautionary principle, which is crucial in the conservation of biodiversity.

To date, this project has achieved several key objectives:

1. Recognize and highlight the efforts of various professionals dedicated to biodiversity research and management.

2. Raise awareness among all stakeholders, such as local authorities, environmental organisations, and residents of the municipalities within the Park, through communication campaigns carried out by Tech4Nature and the Barcelona Provincial Council's Parks Network.

3. Underline the importance of public-private partnerships to ensure biodiversity conservation.

4. Raise awareness of the risk of electrocution caused by poorly designed power lines.

5. Emphasise the importance of systemic management of the natural environment, both inside and outside protected areas.

From a professional point of view, this initiative has allowed me to become familiar with monitoring technologies, such as images and GPS, and to learn how to use various computer applications to:

Visualize the presence of eagles in the nest and understand their behaviour.

Monitor the immediate surroundings of the nest and broader areas.

Track the individual movements of these birds within their territory.

One example worth sharing is that I have discovered that these eagles have well-defined routines, spending most of their time together and that in the mornings, before egg-laying, they usually fly from the roost to gather at the nest or to watch out the locations where they are waiting for their prey, such as partridges, rabbits and pigeons, as well as to defend their territory from other nearby pairs.