[cathartes]

This is actually an apples and oranges argument. All birds are not the same. What's also problematic with this argument is that even if "house cats" were the #1 problem, you still need to address both problems when we're talking at this scale--you shouldn't use one to excuse the other.

What's actually true is that "house cats" and wind turbines can be fairly effective killers in their respective niche. Cats predate primarily songbird species. Wind turbines whack relatively low-abundance birds of prey and--in offshore installations--seabirds. With the right circumstances, both can do very substantial harm to bird populations.

[crdoconnor]

>you still need to address both problems when we're talking at this scale--you shouldn't use one to excuse the other.

I'm not. I'm pointing out that if one problem is 15,000x bigger than another problem and you never mention the bigger problem then perhaps your problem isn't with the actual problem but with the fact that you're in the pay of coal/oil/gas/nuclear companies or you choked on their propaganda.

[cathartes]

Except it isn't "15,000X" larger. It's just different. You didn't even acknowledge my second paragraph, and instead decided I'm some shill. If nothing else I say matters to you, let me correct you on this point: I'm actually employed by a wind energy company. Feel free to dismiss what I say, but don't paint my name with baseless suspicion.

Back on topic, ...

Golden Eagles are generally sparse breeders with some of the largest home territories of any bird. A successful pair typically produces one or two chicks. As many as 55-70% of successfully reared offspring don't live through their third year. It takes birds typically six or seven years to reach full maturity, although breeding is possible by their fourth or even third year of life--however, young parents are rarely successful ones.

The point I'm making is that this is not a species with overwhelming numbers, nor the ability to recover readily from steady declines. This is especially true when you speak of Golden Eagle populations typically in terms of hundreds or thousands of pairs (not tens or hundreds of thousands as you might with some more common songbird species). The steady "take" of even just a few percent of the GE population each year should not be conflated as having the same impact to the population as plinking house sparrows with a pellet gun.

(Edit for typos and clarity.)