Can Artificial Intelligence Save These Rare Eagles From Wind Turbines?

The lesser spotted eagle is endangered in Germany.Hinze, K/DPA via ZUMA Press This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Small in size, sensitive of constitution and with only 130 breeding pairs surviving locally in the wild, the lesser spotted eagle of the Oder delta lives up to its name. In Germany, key questions over the country's energy future hang on the question of whether artificial intelligence systems can do a better job of spotting the reclusive animal than birdwatchers do. Lesser spotted eagles (named after the drop-shaped spots on their feathers) are fond of riding thermals over many of the flatlands earmarked for a mass expansion of onshore windfarms by a German government under pressure to compensate for a pending loss of nuclear power, coal plants and Russian gas. Because lesser spotted eagles in mid-flight are unused to vertical obstacles, and keep their eyes focused on mice, lizard or frog-shaped prey below, conservationists say, they are known to occasionally collide with the rotor blades of wind turbines.