Eagles forced to shift migration route amid war in Ukraine, say scientists

A recent study published in the journal Current Biology says that greater spotted eagles which have migratory routes through Ukraine have shifted their flight paths to avoid the ongoing war.

About the study

According to researchers from University of East Anglia (UEA), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Estonian University of Life Sciences, GPS data found that the eagles skirted around artillery fire, jets and tanks as well as troops amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and took large detours to do it.

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The study also suggests that in addition to the detours, the greater spotted eagles also reduced the number of breaks they took along their journeys or avoided them altogether.

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Every year during spring, the greater spotted eagles make their way all the way from Greece and Sudd in South Sudan to their breeding grounds in Belarus. The females travel from Greece while the males travel from sites in east Africa.

The study published on Monday (May 20) was based on the data collected and analysed from 19 tagged birds as they flew through Ukraine to breeding grounds in southern Belarus in March and April 2022, weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

“The war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on people and the environment. Our findings provide a rare window into how conflicts affect wildlife, improving our understanding of the potential impacts of exposure to such events or other extreme human activities that are difficult to predict or monitor,” said lead author Charlie Russell, in a statement.

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Russell also noted how these disturbances also significantly impact the behaviour, and also potentially affect the fitness of the eagles. “For individuals breeding in these areas, or other species that are less able to respond to disturbance, the impacts are likely to be much greater,” the lead author added.

What did the researchers find?

The data collected during the war was compared with that recorded from 20 birds between 2018 and 2021.

The researchers found that the birds flew further and less directly to breeding grounds travelling as much as 85 kilometres extra on an average. The journey also took 55 hours longer, on average after the war started.

According to the study, fewer birds were stopped in Ukraine before returning to their breeding grounds.

Out of 19 birds, only six took breaks, according to the latest data when compared to 18 out of 20 in 2018-21 while some important stopover sites in Ukrainian Polesia were not used at all in 2022.

(With inputs from agencies)