Once native to Ireland, the White-Tailed Eagle became extinct in the nineteenth century, but a long-term reintroduction programme established in 2007 brought the majestic raptors back to Irish skies.
Niall Ó Donnchú, Director General with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) described the reintroduction programme as a “flagship initiative” and a significant step in restoring Ireland’s natural heritage.
But now the danger posed to the species by wind farms has been highlighted by reports that wind turbines in Donegal have killed three white-tailed eagles in under a year.
Donegal Daily says that the NPWS has confirmed that “the birds of prey were fatally injured by wind turbines in Killybegs and Inver between October 2024 and May 2025.”
Two tagged male eagles were killed by the same turbine in the Anarget Windfarm on Meenacloghspar, Inver. The third eagle, a female, was killed by a turbine at Cornacahan near Killybegs in November 2024.
Post-mortem examinations carried out under the NPWS RAPTOR protocol found evidence of broken bones consistent with turbine strikes, but no signs of poisoning or gunshot.
The incidents, a report claimed, cast doubt on the collision risk modelling used in a planning application for eight wind turbines at Graffy near Glenties.
Bird Watch Ireland said it was “shocking and sad to see 3 rare White-tailed Eagles killed by wind turbines in Co. Donegal” – adding that they believed “the collision risk modelling used in the planning permission application was deeply flawed in this case.”
In 2023, An Bord Pleanála (ABP) refused permission for the construction of the eight wind turbines by Cuilfeach Teoranta who had appealed a 2021 refusal by Donegal County Council for the proposed development which would stretch across town lands in the county.
ABP said that the proposal would see wind turbines erected in an area designated for ‘Especially High Scenic Amenity’ – and that it would ‘result in a considerable and unacceptable adverse visual impact’ and ‘constitute a highly obtrusive development’.
The board also said that the siting, height, scale and operation of the turbines as proposed would result in a significant risk of collision for the Annex I bird species Golden Eagle and White-tailed Eagles and potential risks had not been adequately addressed. The wind turbines would have a maximum tip height of between 149.4m and 149.6m.
However, ABP’s decision was quashed by the High Court earlier this year, and the Graffy development is now back before an An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Donegal Daily says that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage revealed the details of the White-Tailed Eagle deaths from wind turbine strikes “in a report which stated concerns over the location of the proposed Graffy windfarm and its proximity to the location of previous eagle strikes”.
“The Department is concerned that the location of the proposed wind farm is not a suitable location due to a number of factors, including the high quality habitat and obvious use of the area by both of the eagle species,” it said – while noting that the wind turbines that killed the three raptors killed were considerably smaller than those proposed at Graffy.
Collision risk modelling – which is used to estimate the possibility of birds colliding with turbines – are often criticised by conservationists for assumptions on bird behaviour and flight paths and for relying on insufficient data.
Campaigners say that the use of kill data, rather than estimates based on such assumptions, would give a clearer picture of the harm being caused by turbines. “The actual bird mortality rate may be higher than recorded, the Department said, as the deaths of untagged eagles may go unrecorded if removed by scavengers,” Donefal Daily noted.
The American Eagle Foundation recently said that wind turbines “present an ever-present danger to not only eagles and other birds of prey, but also to any migratory bird that passes through areas where wind turbine farms have been constructed.”
They pointed to a “2013 study published in The Wildlife Society Bulletin” which found that wind turbines can kill an estimated 573,000 birds annually in the United States alone.
A US wind energy company- ESI Energy – was ordered to pay $8m in fines in 2022 after pleading guilty to causing the deaths of at least 150 bald and golden eagles at its wind farms.
“ESI … acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles have died in total since 2012, across 50 of its 154 wind energy facilities. 136 of those deaths have been affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being struck by a wind turbine blade,” the Department of Justice said at the time.
A study released earlier this year led by New Mexico State University researchers estimates the number of golden eagles colliding with turbine blades to have more than doubled over 11 years, BBC reports. “The study finds that mortality counts increased from an estimated 110 deaths in 2013 to 270 in 2024.”
Irish efforts to reintroduce White-tailed Eagles, have seen 245 chicks released into the wild, having been satellite-tagged so that their progress can be followed.
“South Donegal is an important and active area for White-tailed Eagles. There is a known White-tailed Eagle nest in the Bluestack Mountains, which successfully fledged a chick in both 2024 and 2025. There is another breeding territory in the Ardara area,” the Department said.
“The Department also raised concerns about Golden Eagles, noting that the proposed site lies between two breeding territories of the species. Ireland’s entire Golden Eagle population consists of just five breeding pairs, all in Donegal,” Donegal Daily said.
In 2020, the National Parks and Wildlife Service began a second phase White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction Project to bolster the existing eagle population in Ireland. The original reintroduction programme (2007-2011) involved releasing 100 young white-tailed eagles in Killarney National Park, County Kerry.
The released eagles, brought from Norway, subsequently dispersed widely throughout Ireland with the first successful breeding occurring in 2012 on Lough Derg, County Clare. By July 2020, a small breeding population of eight to ten pairs had successfully fledged 31 chicks across counties Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway and Tipperary, including a pair who produced triplets.
It is estimated there are now approx. 150 individual eagles in the wild Ireland, enough to maintain and self-sustain the population. So far in 2025, the exact number of chicks born in the wild is unknown, but there are 17 known pairs in total. In 2024, a total of 13 chicks were born from 10 pairs.
In 2016, objecting to a Grousemount windfarm development spanning townlands in Kerry and Cork, the NPWS said that wind turbine blades had caused the deaths of at least three white-tailed sea eagles in the area. However, An Bord Pleanála granted permission to the development.
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