- This week, technicians from Birding Natura and Endesa installed a camera that works with solar energy and a 4G connection in a nest where five eggs have been laid and have already begun to hatch
- Live access to camera footage is public and free and can be viewed via the xxxxx link, which will be active for the next few weeks
- This is one of the actions in the conservation project that Endesa is undertaking with the help of Birding Natura and with the collaboration of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Regional Government of Catalonia)and MITECO, and which aims to study the behaviour of the eagle owl in order to define measures that can contribute to its conservation.
Have any of the others already hatched? How are they doing? With a simple click on xx, anyone can connect live to the images being captured by the camera installed this week in an eagle owl nest where five eggs have been laid and located in the region of Les Garrigues. This action is being undertaken by technicians from Birding Natura (an entity dedicated to conservation) within the framework of the eagle owl conservation project that they are undertaking with Endesa and that will be a pioneering experience in the monitoring of nests of this species. The programme, which began last September, aims to study the behaviour of this species in order to define measures that could contribute to its conservation. The project, which is being undertaken in collaboration with the Generalitat (Regional Government of Catalonia) and MITECO, envisages ringing and radio monitoring a total of twelve individuals from all over Catalonia, as well monitoring a nest. Currently six adults have already been ringed and released with a radio tracking system, and they will soon begin ringing the chicks to coincide with the hatching of the clutches.
After a few days of reconnaissance in the area with a view to choosing the ideal nest, both for its egg-laying characteristics and for its location, finally this week a team of Birding Natura technicians (accompanied by technicians from the Generalitat and by rural agents) proceeded to install the camera inside. The process took approximately fifteen minutes, after which the female, who had left the nest, came back to sit on the eggs and brood them. By then the first chick had already hatched and it is expected that in the coming days the others will also hatch.
The images that are recorded will enable us to see how that happens and what the first days are like for the chicks. This is important information given that there are very few previous experiences of monitoring eagle owl nests in this region. The technicians who will be studying these images highlight the importance of being able to analyse the behaviour of the female and the male with regard to providing food, as well as the roles that each of them will play in the chicks' development. Of course, they will also be very interested in how the chicks themselves behave.
The camera works autonomously with solar energy and is equipped with a 4G connection with unlimited data and a double SIM card that can be managed remotely. It has a resolution of 8 megapixels and infrared technology that will enable images to be captured clearly at night (you should not forget that eagle owls are nocturnal birds). There is also an optical zoom. A small wireless weather station has also been installed outside the nest to simultaneously capture climatological data, which may at any given time be significant with regard to the birds' behaviour. All this information will be available live, on the website, where the images of the most important moments will also be collected and which you will be able to view directly. Finally, there is a second camera at a certain distance that captures images from another perspective.
The monitoring of the nest is part of the second phase of the conservation project that Endesa is undertaking in collaboration with Birding Natura and which aims to study the behaviour of the species in order to define actions to contribute to its preservation. The latest studies suggest that half of the deaths that occur in this species are due to unnatural causes (direct hunting, collisions with vehicles, rodenticide poisonings, collisions, electrocutions, etc.). In Catalonia it is estimated that there is a stable population of between 550 and 700 pairs of birds.
In a first phase, radio tracking devices were installed on six adult specimens distributed throughout Catalonia (Les Garrigues, Baix Empordà and central Catalonia), from which they have been collecting the first data for several months now. A third phase will begin soon involving the ringing of six chicks also distributed throughout Catalonia: In Tierras del Ebro, the plain of Lleida and central Catalonia.
The ultimate objective of all these actions is to acquire greater knowledge with regard to the reasons for and the exact location of possible deaths of the specimens, with a view to establishing measures that will enable these to be minimised.
About the eagle owl
The eagle owl (Bubo bubo) is the largest species of nocturnal bird of prey in Europe and one of the most elegant. Its spectacular facial expression and the beauty of its plumage make the eagle owl one of the jewels in the crown of the Iberian fauna.
Its population is widely distributed throughout Europe and Asia, from the Iberian Peninsula to Kamchatka. In Europe as a whole, there is estimated to be a population of between 12,000 and 42,000 pairs. In Spanish territory, it is widely distributed except for the Cantabrian coast and the islands. With regard to Catalonia, the species appears to be distributed throughout most of the territory, especially in Mediterranean environments and low altitude forests. In Catalonia it is estimated that there is a stable population of between 550 and 700 pairs of birds.
Its conservation status is included in the SPEC3 category at European level, a category that indicates that, despite the fact that its global population is increasing, this species has an unfavourable conservation status due to threats from a number of problems. In fact, at the Spanish level it is included in the "List of Wild Species under Special Protection" and in Catalonia it is listed as a protected species.
About Endesa and its biodiversity conservation projects
Endesa has been firmly committed to the conservation of biodiversity since its first Environmental Policy was approved and published in 1998 This established as one of its benchmark principles "the conservation of the natural environment of its installations by adopting measures to protect the different species of fauna and flora and their habitats".
The Company is undertaking about 25 annual projects for the protection and conservation of biodiversity and the protection of threatened species, areas and habitats, thus increasing scientific knowledge highlighting the importance of biodiversity. In 2020, the first policy focussing on biodiversity was published and the Endesa Biodiversity Committee was constituted with the participation of the different businesses within the Company.