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Power-line risk for birds

Collision and electrocution risk index for birds in Champagne humide (Lac du Der and Forêt d’Orient, France), per ~500 m cell, species and month, built from OpenStreetMap, Enedis, GBIF/eBird, Movebank and terrain data.

Champagne humide (Lac du Der and Forêt d’Orient, France) · bbox (48.15, 4.15, 48.75, 4.95) · generated on 2026-10-16 · sources: OpenStreetMap (ODbL), Enedis Open Data, IGN Admin Express, GBIF/eBird, Movebank Data Repository, AWS Terrain Tiles · All regions

3,961line segments
11,891mapped pylons
183wind turbines
9species included

Champagne humide (Lac du Der and Forêt d’Orient, France) · bbox (48.15, 4.15, 48.75, 4.95) · generated on 2026-10-16 · sources: OpenStreetMap (ODbL), Enedis Open Data, IGN Admin Express, GBIF/eBird, Movebank Data Repository, AWS Terrain Tiles · All regions

Switch on a monthly layer in the map's layer control to see the seasonality. The circles are the elements with the highest correction priority (pylons, wind turbines and line segments).

Infrastructure in the area (OSM and Enedis, French territory only)

Species

Species Common nameGBIF records Movebank GPS fixesConfidence (weight in the aggregate) Included
Grus grusCommon Crane11,27601.0yes
Haliaeetus albicillaWhite-tailed Eagle1,19201.0yes
Ciconia nigraBlack Stork63501.0yes
Ciconia ciconiaWhite Stork67001.0yes
Milvus milvusRed Kite1,43101.0yes
Milvus migransBlack Kite1,82401.0yes
Ardea cinereaGrey Heron5,38201.0yes
Pernis apivorusEuropean Honey Buzzard39600.79yes
Bubo buboEurasian Eagle-Owl3500.07yes

Seasonality of the risk (mean index over cells with infrastructure)

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Common Crane101611000011121513
White-tailed Eagle61242117665138
Black Stork00211361013310
White Stork310532351516664
Red Kite2147111311024153
Black Kite019710133061000
Grey Heron1212754481512111013
European Honey Buzzard000067182210000
Eurasian Eagle-Owl524124440033313
TOTAL71612456161819141410

Top 50 elements to prioritise

# TypeMechanism Risk max.Mean Peak monthSpecies CategoryOperator Source
1pylonelectrocution1408518SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
2pylonelectrocution987351NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution 20 kVEnedis8933016958
3pylonelectrocution987351NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
4pylonelectrocution987351NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
5pylonelectrocution832191SepWhite Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
6pylonelectrocution832191SepWhite Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
7pylonelectrocution821183SepWhite Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
8pylonelectrocution821183SepWhite Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
9pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
10pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
11pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
12pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
13pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
14pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
15pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
16pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
17pylonelectrocution757279SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
18pylonelectrocution692257AugBlack Stork, White-tailed Eagle, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
19pylonelectrocution690245NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
20pylonelectrocution673242SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, White Storkdistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
21pylonelectrocution673242SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, White Storkdistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
22power lineline collision632274SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
23pylonelectrocution629234AugBlack Stork, White-tailed Eagle, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
24pylonelectrocution629234AugBlack Stork, White-tailed Eagle, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
25pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
26pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
27pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
28pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
29pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
30pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
31pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
32pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
33pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
34pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
35pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
36pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
37pylonelectrocution607223SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
38power lineline collision602259SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
39power lineline collision584257SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
40pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
41pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
42pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
43pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
44pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
45pylonelectrocution584207NovWhite-tailed Eagle, White Stork, Grey Herondistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
46power lineline collision583242SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
47power lineline collision583242SepBlack Stork, European Honey Buzzard, Red Kitedistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
48pylonelectrocution582217SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
49pylonelectrocution582217SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset
50pylonelectrocution582217SepBlack Stork, Red Kite, European Honey Buzzarddistribution EnedisEnedis dataset

Full ranking in ranking_elements.csv and ranking_elements.geojson; monthly rasters in risk_total.tif.

How it is computed

The French regions use the same model as the Spanish ones; what changes is where the infrastructure comes from, the voltage threshold and the conservation status.

  1. Distribution network: Enedis. Enedis, which runs about 95% of mainland France's distribution network, publishes every overhead medium-voltage (HTA) line (réseau HTA, Licence Ouverte 2.0) and the position of its poles, HTA or low voltage (poteaux HTA et BT, ODbL). They are downloaded for the region's bounding box. The poles file does not say which network each pole belongs to: a pole within 10 m of an overhead HTA line is counted as an HTA pole. The file is incomplete: it holds about half the poles one would expect on the HTA lines, so the pylons mapped in OSM fill the gaps.
  2. Transmission lines and wind turbines: OpenStreetMap. RTE's lines and pylons (63 kV and above) and the wind turbines come from OpenStreetMap (Overpass), as in Spain. Lines up to 50 kV are distribution (electrocution and collision); above that, transmission (collision only). In Spain the threshold is 66 kV (Royal Decree 1432/2008); in France the HTA network ends at 50 kV and 63 kV is already RTE's.
  3. Merging both sources. An OSM distribution line that runs within 25 m of Enedis HTA for at least 50% of its length is the same line and is dropped; the others stay (local distributors such as SICAE or régies, which publish no data). An OSM pylon within 15 m of an Enedis pole is the same pylon: the Enedis pole takes its OSM tags (material, insulators, cross-arm), which set its hazard factor, and the OSM copy is dropped. OSM pylons with no Enedis twin are kept (they are the poles missing from the Enedis file), except those tagged below 1 kV (low voltage). Where a cell has fewer mapped pylons than its line length implies, the model estimates the rest, as in Spain, so nothing is counted twice.
  4. French territory only. Every element outside the French departments that cross the region (IGN Admin Express) is clipped away: in the Pyrenees the bounding box takes in part of Spain, where there is no Enedis data and the count would be lower for that reason alone. The birds are counted over the whole box, since they fly across the border.
  5. Presence, terrain, index and ranking as in Spain: GBIF/eBird records corrected for sampling effort (density of the species' records / density of all bird records, smoothed at σ = 1,500 m), Movebank where available, slope and ridges, then a 0-100 index per species, month and 0.005° cell. Electrocution = presence x weight x pylons; line collision = presence x weight x km of line x (1 + relief); turbine collision = presence x weight x turbines x (1 + ridge).
  6. Conservation status. Each species weighs according to the Red List of the breeding birds of mainland France (UICN France, MNHN, LPO, SEOF, ONCFS, 2016): CR 1, EN 0.9, VU 0.8, NT 0.6, LC 0.4-0.5. Common Crane and White-tailed Eagle are weighted as the wintering birds they are in these regions.
  7. Natura 2000 sites come from the European Environment Agency (SPA = ZPS, SAC = ZSC).

Parameters

Grid cell0.005°
Maximum distribution voltage50 kV
Pylons assumed where none are mapped6 per km
Pylon cap per cell20
Record smoothing (σ)1,500 m with ≥300 records in the month
GBIF recordsfrom 2010, up to 20,000 per species
Minimum records to include a species30
Full confidence500 records or 2,000 GPS fixes
Maximum GPS weight (Movebank)50%
eBird Status & Trends weight70%
Slope at which line collision doubles25°
Topographic position radius1,500 m
Scale99th percentile = 100
Enedis pole counted as HTA≤10 m from an HTA line
OSM pylon and Enedis pole are the same≤15 m apart
OSM line duplicated by Enedis≥50% of its length ≤25 m from HTA

Validation

Pending, as in Spain: there is no open dataset of birds killed by power lines in France to check the ranking against. The LPO and the national action plans keep records that are not open.

What is left out, and why

Limits