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As we closed out 2025, this special January 2026 episode of Talons of Hope pauses to reflect on the stories, people, and places that shaped our first season.

Across ten episodes, we travelled from tropical forests and open grasslands to remote islands, vast steppes, and the Arctic tundra. We heard from scientists, conservation leaders, community champions, and field practitioners working on the front lines to protect some of the world’s most threatened birds of prey. These were not abstract conversations. They were lived experiences shaped by uncertainty, persistence, and hope.

The 2025 year-end wrap-up revisits the core themes that emerged again and again: why raptors matter, what their decline tells us about the health of our planet, and how meaningful conservation happens when science, local leadership, and long-term commitment come together. From iconic species like the Philippine eagle and gyrfalcon, to EDGE species such as the secretarybird, and some of the most vulnerable island raptors on Earth, these stories remind us that every bird matters.

We also reflect on the global community that has grown around this podcast, with listeners tuning in from 73 countries and 411 cities around the world. That reach reinforces why storytelling is such a powerful conservation tool.

As we look ahead to 2026, we are excited to bring you new and powerful stories from across the globe. Stories that dig deeper, challenge assumptions, and spotlight the people quietly doing extraordinary work to ensure raptors continue to soar.

And we want to hear from you.
If you have a Talons of Hope story to share, whether from the field, the lab, your community, or a place where conservation is making a difference, please email us or reach out through our social media channels. The next story worth telling might be yours.

Thank you for listening, for caring, and for being part of this growing community. We look forward to flying with you into 2026.

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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. 🦅