Breeding season diets of sympatric White-tailed Eagles and Golden Eagles in Scotland: no evidence for competitive effects

Whitfield, D. Philip; Marquiss, M.; Reid, Robin; Grant, Justin; Tingay, Ruth E.; Evans, Richard J.

doi:10.1080/00063657.2012.742997

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Elsewhere, culling as a means of disease reduction or improvement of economic returns also has a poor track record of success across taxa as diverse as Yellowstone bison Bison bison , European badger Meles meles , and Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii as well as mountain hare (e.g., Beeton & McCallum, ; Harrison et al., ; Vial & Donnelly, ; White, Wallen, Geremia, Treanor, & Blanton, ). Moreover, mountain hares are an important part of the prey base for top predators of high conservation concern such as golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos and white‐tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (Whitfield et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Declines in the density index that are in excess of 99% on moorland sites suggest that mountain hare populations are not in favourable conservation status in the region of the study. If culling of hares in an attempt to reduce LIV in grouse has driven the severe declines seen since 1999, as seems a parsimonious explanation, then it is important also to recognise that there is no evidence that the culls increase either red grouse densities (Harrison et al, 2010) or chick survival (Fletcher, 2014 servation concern such as golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos and whitetailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (Whitfield et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seven decades of mountain hare counts show severe declines where high‐yield recreational game bird hunting is practised

Watson

Wilson

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Recreational hunting is widespread and can benefit nature conservation when well‐practised, monitored, and regulated. Management for recreational red grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica shooting on upland heathland in the UK causes conservation conflict because the intensive habitat, predator, and disease management needed to maintain high‐grouse densities for “driven” shooting has detrimental environmental impacts, notably for raptor populations. Sustainable management of mountain hares Lepus timidus scoticus, a game species in the same landscapes, poses a challenge. Control of transmission to grouse of a viral disease, louping‐ill, for which mountain hares are a host, has become an additional motivation to kill mountain hares since research during 1993–2001 suggested that culls might reduce infection rates in grouse. We analysed population trends of mountain hares from spring counts on moorland managed for grouse shooting and on contiguous alpine land. On moorland sites, a long‐term decline (4.6% per annum) from 1954 to 1999 increased to 30.7% per annum from then until 2017, with a density index falling to <1% of initial levels after 2008. Before 1999, declines were associated with conifer planting and were least severe where heather burning characteristic of grouse management was present. Grouse moors had the highest rate of decline after 1999. On alpine sites, the density index increased by 2.0% per annum from 1954 to 2007, then declined by 12.3% per annum but remained within the previous range of variation. Despite lack of evidence that it increases grouse numbers, reduction of louping‐ill transmission to grouse became a more frequent justification for mountain hare culls at a time consistent with it causing these recent, rapid mountain hare declines on grouse moors. Synthesis and applications. Long‐term field counts suggest that intensification of game bird management has resulted in severe, recent declines in mountain hare numbers, exacerbating longer term declines associated with land‐use change. Management practices founded on misinterpretation of earlier research are the probable cause. Regulation of hare culling would provide a framework for formal tests of whether culls affect grouse surpluses. It would also provide an opportunity to examine mountain hare populations' resilience to culls of varying size and seasonal timing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seven decades of mountain hare counts show severe declines where high‐yield recreational game bird hunting is practised

Watson

Wilson

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…These fish species are also abundant and compose the bulk of the freshwater fish biomass of the Danube Delta (Oțel, 2007). Mammals are preyed upon extensively by certain populations of white-tailed eagles, especially in central Europe (Bezzel, 1985;Horváth, 2003), but also in the west (Watson et al, 1992;van Rijn et al, 2010;Whitfield et al, 2013). We found 2 species of mammals regularly preyed upon by eagles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Wildfowl are important for other, more distant populations also, as nearly 80% of eagle prey brought to nests near Lake Baikal consisted of Anatidae (Mlíkovský, 2009). There are coastal breeding populations that tend to exploit similar percentages of birds, but in their case the importance of colonial seabirds is high (e.g., western Scotland, Whitfield et al, 2013) or they rely on one superabundant prey species (e.g., northern Russia, where the main prey was the common eider Somateria mollissima (Koryakin and Boyko, 2005)). White-tailed eagles breeding in other coastal areas, however, prefer fish, with up to 90% in Greenland (Wille and Kampp, 1983), but fish are also overwhelmingly found in the diets of eagles from Lithuania (Dementavičius, 2004), far-eastern Russia (Ganusevich, 1996), Estonia (Tuvi and Vali, 2007), and southern Finland (Sulkava et al, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as with most large carnivores, it is still conservation dependent and protected in most range states (BirdLife International, 2004). Food selection, breeding ecology, and population dynamics are well known in its northern range states-especially for populations breeding on shores-and in central Europe (Sulkava et al, 1997;Horváth, 2003;van Rijn et al, 2010;Whitfield et al, 2013; for a comprehensive summary see Cramp, 1980, or a more recent account in Nadjafzadeh, 2011). In contrast, there are only a few publications in southeastern Europe (none specifically from Romania), with only anecdotal information published for the Danube Delta population (Dombrowski, 1910;Puşcariu, 1968;Klemm, 1973;Marinov and Kiss, 1991;Pocora, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nest-site selection, breeding success, and diet of white-tailed eagles(Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Danube Delta, Romania

Sándor¹,

Alexe²,

Marinov³

et al. 2015

Turk J Zool

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The white-tailed eagle is a flagship species of wetland conservation throughout Europe; thus, general conservation efforts targeting this species can provide effective protection for most species occupying similar habitats. The species' breeding ecology is well known in northern and western Europe; however, the locally important Danube Delta population has scarcely been studied. Here, the eagles primarily select tall trees for nesting (mostly willow and white poplar), with most nests built above 15 m. The breeding population is geographically concentrated in the northern and northwestern parts of the delta, most probably because of available nest sites in lessdisturbed areas. The population has low breeding success, with nests falling and low productivity of breeding pairs (0.67 fledglings/pair). The diet is diverse, with birds, fish, and mammals being preyed upon. Wildfowl and large cyprinids contribute most to the diet, while corvids and mammals are locally important. Most prey species are common residents, occurring abundantly in the area; thus, food scarcity does not seem to limit the eagle population. To maintain the white-tailed eagle population in the Danube Delta, special effort should be taken for maintaining proper (large) nesting trees or to provide artificial nests in suitable areas.

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No adverse effects on Lesser Spotted Eagle breeding in an area of high White-tailed Eagle density

et al. 2019

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Breeding season diets of sympatric White-tailed Eagles and Golden Eagles in Scotland: no evidence for competitive effects

Cited by 21 publications

References 30 publications

Seven decades of mountain hare counts show severe declines where high‐yield recreational game bird hunting is practised

Seven decades of mountain hare counts show severe declines where high‐yield recreational game bird hunting is practised

Nest-site selection, breeding success, and diet of white-tailed eagles(Haliaeetus albicilla) in the Danube Delta, Romania

No adverse effects on Lesser Spotted Eagle breeding in an area of high White-tailed Eagle density

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