RT Journal Article
T1 Prioritizing strain insulators for raptor conservation.
A1 Francisco Guil, 
A1 M. Angeles Soria, 
A1 Víctor Ortega, 
A1 Rubén García-Sánchez, 
A1 Villaverde Morcillo, Silvia
AB Avian species often take advantage of human-made structures, such as perching on power poles, although this can lead to negative effects for both birds and infrastructure. It has been demonstrated that anchor-type pylons, with strain insulators, are amongst the most dangerous of these structures. Our goal was to develop a methodological approach to evaluate the ways in which raptors perch on the six most commonly used strain insulator configurations in Spain, and to build a risk index that can be used to prioritise them. To study the ways raptors perch, we worked with six wildlife rescue centres in central Spain for almost a year assessing these six strain insulator configurations in 83 perch trials with 176 raptors in ample flying pens. We analysed 475 complete survey days, with an approximate number of 258,960 analysed pictures, including 6,766 perchings on strain insulators. We assessed the influential factors for these 6,766 perchings and developed a novel approach to prioritise strain insulator configurations that can be used anywhere. Our results suggest that longer insulator strains (i.e. PECA-1000 and Caon-C3670) are the safest, according to our prioritization criteria, although these results require further assessment in the field. Managers and conservationists should take into account these results to improve management and conservation actions.
PB Cambridge University Press
SN 0959-2709
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131968
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/131968
LA eng
NO Guil F, Soria M.A., Ortega V., García-Sánchez R., Villaverde-Morcillo S.(2021) Prioritizing strain insulators for raptor conservation. Bird Conservation International.31(3):379-394. doi:10.1017/S0959270921000253
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 feb 2026