Project title: Study: „Habitat use of the Red Kite in the region March-Thaya North, regional concept March-Thaya”

Contracting entity: WEB Windenergie AG, 3834 Pfaffenschlag; Pro Projekt Baumanagement & Planungs GmbH,1030 Wien; WindLandKraft GmbH, 2284 Untersiebenbrunn; wind & energy GmbH, 7111 Parndorf; Windkraft Simonsfeld AG, 2115 Ernstbrunn; EVN naturkraft Erzeugungsgesellschaft m.b.H.,2344 Maria Enzersdorf; WP Deutsch Haslau GmbH, 1010 Wien

Project duration: 2014-2016

Nature conservation / Renewable Energy
In the course of the expansion of the windpark in the March-Thaya-Region, a telemetry study on the habitat use of the Red Kite was conducted by TB Raab. In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Ivan Literak (Brno/CZ), 21 Red Kites were equipped with GPS-loggers to analyze their habitat use.

The investigation gave information in order to answer the following questions:

• How is the habitat use of windenergy relevant birds (Red Kites, Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Eagle) in the investigated area for the regional concept?
• How many and which birds collide with windmills in the project areas?
• How do the collisions effect the populations of the affected bird species?
• What impact do the existing compensation measures from the previous permit procedure in the area have?

Characteristics / innovative Solution / Content: For the first time, Red Kites in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were equipeed with GPS-loggers, to create the basis for the biodiversity friendly expansion of renewable energy in Austria. In order to visualize the habitat use of the tagged individuals, computer-assisted Kernel Density Estimations were used. The probability density of the individuals was used to depict the areas were the probability to find a Red Kite is 95%, 80% and 50%.