Understanding the taphonomic signature of Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata)

Wild Bonelli’s eagles (Aquila fasciata) as carrier of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella and Campylobacter in Eastern Spain

“…Mediterranean ecosystems [30][31][32]. This species feeds mostly on European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) playing a major dietary role [33]. However in the last decades they have suffered considerable privation of these preys species, due to game hunting and infectious diseases [33] .…”

Who ate the birds: the taphonomy of Sarakenos Cave, Greece

“…They are observed on articular ends of long bones and on the surface of breakages, whereas shafts are not affected. The degree of digestion damage is much larger in remains extracted from pellets of diurnal raptors (Bochenski 2005;Lloveras et al 2014). A similar pattern of damage through digestion was also observed on Eagle Owl food remains from the Roman bath complex in Sagalassos, Turkey (De Cupere et al 2009).…”

“…Wing elements also prevailed among bird remains from the Roman bath complex in Sagalassos, Turkey, and subAtlantic deposits in the Ural Mountains-both of which were attributed to the Eagle Owl (De Cupere et al 2009;Bochenski and Nekrasov 2001, respectively). The fact that remnants of many skeletal elements, including vertebrae and phalanges, were recorded at the site also indirectly supports their owl or diurnal raptor pellet origin (Bochenski 2005;Lloveras et al 2014), while the almost total lack of cranial elements suggests the Eagle Owl, which is known to decapitate its prey prior to swallowing (Glutz von Blotzheim and Bauer 1980;Bochenski et al 1993). The fragmentation of the humerus and tibiotarsus of Partridges follows the pattern produced by the Eagle Owls (De Cupere et al 2009).…”

“…The wing/leg ratio is believed to differentiate between human food remains where meat-rich leg bones prevail and natural decomposition factors where leg bones are underrepresented (Ericson 1987). Avian remains derived from owl pellets and uneaten food remains of diurnal raptors are characterized either by an equal proportion of the wing and leg elements or-more often-by the predominance of wing elements (Bochenski 2005;Lloveras et al 2014). Although heavily fragmented and therefore more prone to misinterpretation, the remains from Sarakenos Cave fit the Bowl pelletĉ ategory.…”

“…Diurnal raptors can be excluded because animal remains in their pellets are nearly always heavily digested (Bochenski 2005;Lloveras et al 2014), which was not the case in Sarakenos Cave. Mammalian carnivores consume bones or at least heavily damage them and leave bite marks (Andrews 1990), which we did not observe on the remains.…”