Understanding how modified landscapes influence the breeding output of apex predators, such as raptors, is crucial for effective conservation planning. Cyclone-driven loss of mature nesting trees along India’s eastern coast has forced raptors to adapt to man-made structures, whose true fitness value remains unknown. Thus, we monitored the productivity of 33 White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) territories along India’s cyclone-prone Odisha coast over four breeding seasons (2021–2025) and analysed 91 nesting attempts with the Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs). Fledge rate, the proportion of hatchlings that left the nest, was best explained by a negative effect of human population density (β = –0.53 ± 0.25 SE) and a positive effect of waterbody proportion (β = 0.19 ± 0.37). Nests far from waterbodies or embedded in dense settlement matrices fledged significantly fewer young, emphasising the primacy of accessible aquatic prey over vegetation structure or neighbour spacing. Nest structure was equally decisive: all 19 attempts in natural trees produced fledglings (mean ± SD = 1.74 ± 0.45), whereas 39 % of the 72 attempts on telecommunication and power pylons failed, yielding a much lower mean of 0.68 ± 0.60 fledglings, suggesting that artificial structures might be acting as ecological traps. Our findings highlight three management priorities: (i) protecting and restoring tall, cyclone-resilient coastal tree patches; (ii) establishing seasonal disturbance-free buffers that limit shoreline clearing and road traffic around active nests; and (iii) retrofitting existing pylons with raptor-safe platforms and scheduling maintenance outside the breeding window, and custom-made artificial structures should be placed at suitable sites.
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