‘We thought they would ignore us’: how humans are changing the way raptors behave

A golden eagle is fitted with a GPS transmitter in Castellón, Spain, which will provide more than 40,000 locations on the bird a day, allowing researchers to study behaviour and activity in real time. All photographs by Roberto García-Roa Photograph: Roberto García-Roa

Many people look up to admire the silhouette of raptors, some of the planet’s largest birds, soaring through seemingly empty skies. But increasingly, research shows us that this fascination runs both ways. From high above, these birds are watching us too.

Thanks to the development of tiny GPS tracking devices attached to their bodies, researchers are getting millions of data points on the day-to-day lives of these apex predators of the skies, giving us greater insight into where they hunt and rest, and how they die.