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For years an unseen hazard hung over the steppe. Standard distribution poles were silently killing thousands of raptors each year, including Saker Falcons. In this episode, Dr Andrew Dixon explains how leadership from Abu Dhabi, later anchored by the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund, helped Mongolia confront the crisis and retrofit 27,000 power poles across the country. The result is one of the standout conservation wins of our time and a practical blueprint any nation can adopt.

Andrew takes us inside the work from first grim counts to winter field trials, and into the coalition of utilities, engineers, regulators, herder communities, and researchers that made bird-safe design the norm. We look at outcomes that matter, from dramatic reductions in electrocution to procurement standards that lock in safer builds for the future.

In this episode you’ll hear:
• What makes a typical pole dangerous to perching raptors, in simple terms
• Which retrofits proved most effective and affordable in real-world conditions
• How teams scaled to 27,000 poles without losing momentum
• The measurements that show success, including carcass searches, telemetry, and nest outcomes
• How policy and procurement now require bird-safe construction
• Why this pays for utilities through fewer outages, lower incident costs, and stronger public trust
• A clear path for countries in Africa, Asia, and beyond that want to act now

This is the second installment in our three-part Talons of Hope series with Dr Andrew Dixon and the final podcast of 2025.

Guest
Dr Andrew Dixon, Science and Conservation Director, MBZRCF, recipient of the Partners for Raptors Lifetime Achievement Award.

Call to action
Follow Talons of Hope, share this episode with colleagues in energy and conservation, and ask your utility to adopt bird-safe standards in procurement and maintenance plans.

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What does it take to bring a national bird back from the brink? In this opening episode of our three-part Talons of Hope special on the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund's signature project in Mongolia, Dr. Andrew Dixon—the Partners for Raptors Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and MBZRCF’s Science & Conservation Director—tells the inside story of how an Abu Dhabi–driven vision became one of the most ambitious raptor conservation efforts of our time.

Long before the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund (MBZRCF) had a name, Abu Dhabi’s leadership backed a bold, practical idea on the Mongolian steppe: build thousands of safe, well-sited artificial nests; partner with herder families and schools; and invest in young Mongolian scientists to lead the future. Five thousand “barrels on poles” later, those nests turned into broods—lifting fledglings, strengthening communities, and restoring pride in a bird that is both Mongolia’s national icon and deeply cherished in the UAE.

Andrew takes us from his first day on the steppe to the data and decisions that scaled a handful of prototype nests into a country-level grid—proof that when science, community, and long-horizon support align, raptors recover.

In this episode, you’ll hear about

• How 5,000+ artificial nests went from concept to population-level impact
• Why early Abu Dhabi leadership (pre-2018) and later MBZRCF backing were decisive
• Partnerships with herder families as hands-on nest guardians
• School links between Mongolia and the UAE that turned kids into young conservationists
• The metrics that matter: occupancy, fledging rates, and the ripple effects on steppe ecology
• The pipeline of Mongolian early-career scientists now leading field seasons and research

Guest

Dr. Andrew Dixon — Science & Conservation Director, MBZRCF; recipient of the Partners for Raptors Lifetime Achievement Award; two decades leading Mongolia’s Saker Falcon research and conservation.

Call to action

If this story moves you, follow Talons of Hope, rate the show, and share this episode. It’s the blueprint for scaling raptor conservation—one nest, one herder family, one young scientist at a time.

Produced by Talons of Hope in collaboration with Vision Aquila. 🦅

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Across the world’s scattered islands, from the volcanic ridges of the Philippines to the icy fjords of Tierra del Fuego, live some of the rarest and most extraordinary birds of prey on Earth. These are the island raptors—hawks, owls, eagles, and falcons that evolved in isolation, mastering ecosystems shaped by wind, salt, and solitude. But that same isolation now places them in peril.

Science tells a stark truth: every known extinction of a raptor has occurred on an island. From the Guadalupe Caracara of Mexico to the Reunion Kestrel and owl of the Indian Ocean, island raptors have vanished—quietly, and often unnoticed—undone by invasive species, habitat loss, pollution, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. Their populations are small, their habitats fragmented, and their options vanishing.

In this episode of Talons of Hope, host Dr. Munir Virani sits down with Dr. Ulises Balza, a leading Argentinian raptor biologist whose groundbreaking research has revealed the global scale of this crisis. Drawing on his studies from the windswept archipelagos of Tierra del Fuego to the subantarctic islands, Ulises explains why island raptors are the world’s most imperiled birds of prey—and why now is the time to act.

Together, they explore:

• How genetic isolation and small populations heighten extinction risk.
• The surprising ways some raptors depend on marine food webs, feeding on seabirds, seals, and even whales.
• The threat of heavy metal contamination and ecosystem collapse.
• And the bold idea to create a global Island Raptor Conservation Network, linking scientists, communities, and governments in a unified effort to save these birds before it’s too late.

Yet this is not just a story of loss—it’s a story of hope. The Mauritius Kestrel, once down to only four known birds, was brought back from the brink through determination, science, and collaboration. Its recovery stands as proof that extinction is not inevitable.

As Ulises reminds us, island raptors are more than symbols of fragility—they are sentinels of resilience, teachers of adaptation, and guardians of the planet’s most vulnerable ecosystems.

This episode is a call to raise the red flag, to unite for action, and to believe—like the kestrel that flew again—that hope still has wings.