Wind power and eagles both depend on open, windy land. Large raptors such as golden eagles use steady winds and rising air currents to travel and hunt with little effort and wind developers site turbines on ridges and plains for the same conditions. This spatial overlap places eagles within range of the moving blades and has long complicated wildlife management and turbine permitting operations. Operators either shut down turbines temporarily or slow them when birds are detected, generally with the help of on-site human observers. Observers could monitor only a limited number of turbines and could not remain active all day. This prompted research into whether cameras and software could do the job without human direction. A case study conducted in Wyoming tested this idea.
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