Landscape-Scale Gradients and Temporal Changes in the Prey Species of the White-Tailed Eagle (<i>Haliaeetus albicilla</i>)

Ekblad, Camilla; Sulkava, Sonja; Stjernberg, Torsten; Laaksonen, Toni

doi:10.5735/086.053.0401

Cited by 20 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In the summer season (May-August), lead poisonings were notably less common although not absent. The breeding season diet of Finnish WTE's in the Baltic Sea region consists mainly of birds and fish with only very small proportion of mammals (Sulkava et al 1997;Ekblad et al 2016). However, feeding on birds may also be risky because of lead shot embedded in the tissues of game birds: a German study found over 20% of live X-rayed geese having shot in their tissues (Krone et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead poisoning and other human-related factors cause significant mortality in white-tailed eagles

Isomursu

Koivusaari²,

Stjernberg

et al. 2018

Ambio

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The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) suffered a severe population decline due to environmental pollutants in the Baltic Sea area ca. 50 years ago but has since been recovering. The main threats for the white-tailed eagle in Finland are now often related to human activities. We examined the human impact on the white-tailed eagle by determining mortality factors of 123 carcasses collected during 2000-2014. Routine necropsy with chemical analyses for lead and mercury were done on all carcasses. We found human-related factors accounting for 60% of the causes of death. The most important of these was lead poisoning (31% of all cases) followed by human-related accidents (e.g. electric power lines and traffic) (24%). The temporal and regional patterns of occurrence of lead poisonings suggested spent lead ammunition as the source. Lead shot was found in the gizzards of some lead-poisoned birds. Scavenging behaviour exposes the white-tailed eagle to lead from spent ammunition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead poisoning and other human-related factors cause significant mortality in white-tailed eagles

Isomursu

Koivusaari²,

Stjernberg

et al. 2018

Ambio

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“…The research suggests that this flagship predator takes young carrion crows and magpies which pose a serious real threat to small birds. Further the main threats of the white-tailed eagle to the island may not be high in terms of prey hunting because they usually sit and wait for the attack and their main targets are those that are injured, sick or dying waterfowl (Nadjafzadeh et al 2016 andEkblad et al 2016).…”

Section: Specific Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential socio-economic impacts and ecotourism influences for the reintroduction of the White-tailed Eagle on the Isle of Wight

Jagait

2022

Preprint

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Reintroduction programs for wild animals into the natural environment have been researched and studied where the findings have illustrated main points of discussion. This research paper attempted to explore the reintroduction program currently underway within the Isle of Wight for the white-tailed eagle. By conducting open-ended qualitative interviews with stakeholders across a wide spectrum of industries the findings provide useful information into establishing three main views on the reintroduction program. From those participants totally opposed of this reintroduction project, because they feel this places an enormous amount of strain on the current wildlife to those honourably in favour of the reintroduction of this apex predator because this encourages more wildlife knowledge and to those that decided to remain neutral on the subject matter being investigated.

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“…In Lithuania, a preference for various water bodies, as well as semi-open areas, was found within a calculated territory with a radius of 6 km (Treinys et al 2016), whereas all White-tailed Eagle nests in Croatia are found within 1 km of some kind of water body (Radović and Mikuska 2009). Associations between the diet and the habitat in the nesting territory have, to our knowledge, been made only regarding the share of water and land (Helander 1983;Ekblad et al 2016). A very recent paper from Lithuania examined the diet in different aquatic environments, but the terrestrial habitats were not further discriminated (Dementavičius et al 2020).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This translates to a radius between 1.38 and 11.17 km, if the territories were perfect circles. At the Baltic Sea coast, a radius of 2 km around the nests was used to describe habitat characteristics of the nesting landscape (Ekblad et al 2016). In a study from Lithuania a radius of 6 km around the nests was used (Treinys et al 2016).…”

Section: Territorial Size and Habitatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet and breeding habitat preferences of White-tailed Eagles in a northern inland environment

Ekblad

Tikkanen

Sulkava³

et al. 2020

Polar Biol

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Many apex predator populations are recolonizing old areas and dispersing to new ones, with potential consequences for their prey species and for livestock. An increasing population of the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has settled north of the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, mainly at two big water reservoirs but also in areas with mainly terrestrial habitat. We examined nesting habitat preferences and prey use of White-tailed Eagles in this environment, where reindeer husbandry is a traditional livelihood and concerns are rising that the growing White-tailed Eagle population poses a threat to reindeer calves. Lakes, peat bogs, and marshlands were preferred habitats in the nesting territories. Fish constituted 64.3% of the identified prey items, with birds accounting for 28.5% and mammals 7.2%. The nesting territory habitat within a 10 km radius and the latitude influenced the prey composition at both the group and species level. The occurrence of reindeer calves as prey increased with latitude but was not associated with any habitat. Knowledge of the diet and territory preferences can be used to predict future dispersal and local prey use of this species. Nesting White-tailed Eagles do not seem to pose a threat to traditional reindeer herding, but further research is needed regarding non-breeding sub-adults and whether the White-tailed Eagles actually kill reindeer calves or simply exploit their carcasses.

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Landscape-Scale Gradients and Temporal Changes in the Prey Species of the White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Cited by 20 publications

References 22 publications

Lead poisoning and other human-related factors cause significant mortality in white-tailed eagles

Lead poisoning and other human-related factors cause significant mortality in white-tailed eagles

The potential socio-economic impacts and ecotourism influences for the reintroduction of the White-tailed Eagle on the Isle of Wight

Diet and breeding habitat preferences of White-tailed Eagles in a northern inland environment

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