War in Ukraine is ruining an endangered bird species

For the first time, scientists have investigated the impact of war on the migration of endangered bird species. The study looked at the migration of the great spotted eagle through Ukraine before and after the Russian invasion in 2022. This is reported by Current Biology.

The study came as a surprise, as the team from the University of East Anglia (UEA), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Estonian University of Life Sciences had already studied great spotted eagles as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

The scientists first studied the impact of weather events such as drought, habitat destruction and land use change, and then the impact of war was added to the list.

The 19 great spotted eagles were fitted with GPS tracking devices, which showed that they were exposed to multiple conflict events while travelling through Ukraine between March and April.

Military action included artillery fire, jets and tanks, as well as unprecedented displacement of people, with civilians displaced from their homes and soldiers travelling across the terrain.

The results showed that eagles had to deviate heavily from their usual migration route, spending less time in Ukraine or not stopping there at all.

In 2018-2021, 90 per cent of the birds stopped in Ukraine, but this number dropped to 30 per cent after the Russian Federation invasion. Migrating males moved more slowly, and on average eagles travelled an extra 85 kilometres to reach breeding sites.

The combination of longer flight times and fewer opportunities to stop for food is likely affecting the birds' fitness, which - given that the journey is being made ahead of the breeding season - could have an extremely negative impact on a species that is already threatened with extinction.

The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on people and the environment. 'Our results provide a rare insight into how conflict affects wildlife, improving our understanding of the potential consequences of exposure to such events or other extreme human activities that are difficult to predict or control,' said lead study author Charlie Russell, a PhD student in UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, in a statement.

Such disturbances can have a significant impact on the behaviour and possibly the adaptability of eagles. For individuals breeding in these areas, or other species that are less able to respond to disturbances, the consequences could be much greater.