Wedge-tailed Eagle <i>Aquila audax</i> Predation on Endangered Mammals and Rabbits at Shark Bay, Western Australia

Richards, J.D.; Short, Jeff

doi:10.1071/mu98003

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For example, the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is a predator of medium-large vertebrates including rabbits and small macropods (Brooker & Ridpath, 1980;Richards & Short, 1998). As such, it is likely to compete for food with cursorial predators.…”

Section: Implications For Predator Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the focus of the present review is on mammalian carnivores, it should be noted that avian predators may also be involved in competitive and predatory interactions with terrestrial ones. For example, the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is a predator of medium-large vertebrates including rabbits and small macropods (Brooker & Ridpath, 1980;Richards & Short, 1998). As such, it is likely to compete for food with cursorial predators.…”

Section: Implications For Predator Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management

2005

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Mammalian carnivore populations are often intensively managed, either because the carnivore in question is endangered, or because it is viewed as a pest and is subjected to control measures, or both. Most management programmes treat carnivore species in isolation. However, there is a large and emerging body of evidence to demonstrate that populations of different carnivores interact with each other in a variety of complex ways. Thus, the removal or introduction of predators to or from a system can often affect other species in ways that are difficult to predict. Wildlife managers must consider such interactions when planning predator control programmes. Integrated predator control will require a greater understanding of the complex relationships between species.In many parts of the world, sympatric species of carnivores have coexisted over an evolutionary time scale so that niche differentiation has occurred, and competition is difficult to observe. Australia has experienced numerous introductions during the past 200 years, including those of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the feral cat (Felis catus). These species now exist in sympatry with native mammalian predators, providing ecologists with the opportunity to study their interactions without the confounding effects of coevolution.Despite an increasing body of observational evidence for complex interactions among native and introduced predators in Australia, few studies have attempted to clarify these relationships experimentally, and the interactions remain largely unacknowledged. A greater understanding of these interactions would provide ecologists and wildlife managers world-wide with the ability to construct robust predictive models of carnivore communities, and to identify their broader effects on ecosystem functioning. We suggest that future research should focus on controlled and replicated predator removal or addition experiments. The dingo (Canis lupus dingo), as a likely keystone species, should be a particular focus of attention.

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Section: Implications For Predator Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Predator Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management

2005

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“…Their problem in this regard has doubtless been exacerbated by, or even caused by, the extinctions, local extirpations and declines that have befallen mammalian taxa throughout the Australian arid zone (Aslin 1983;Gibson 1986). Evidence for this comes from Bernier Island in Shark Bay, Western Australia, where Richards and Short (1998) found the most common prey to be banded hare-wallabies (Lagostrophus fasciatus) (53% of items, n = 117 items), mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus) (36% of items) and burrowing bettongs (Bettongia lesueur) (9% of items). The mala and burrowing Bettong were once common and widespread in the southern part of the Northern Territory but appear not to occur there now (Gibson 1986), while other locally indigenous medium-sized mammals, such as various bandicoots and the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), the brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata) and the spectacled hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus), are now extremely scarce or extinct (Gibson 1986).…”

Section: Table 1 Mean Prey Weight Diet Diversity (Shannon's Index) mentioning

confidence: 99%

An intraspecific and interspecific comparison of raptor diets in the south-west of the Northern Territory, Australia

Aumann¹

2001

Wildl. Res.

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Dietary information, collected during 1995-97 in the south-west of the Northern Territory, is presented for 11 raptor species. Unlike better-studied populations of these species in south-eastern and eastern Australia, most of the raptors in the arid inland were found to depend heavily on reptiles and birds, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) being a particularly important food for many species during those periods when it was plentiful. Between-territory, between-year and seasonal differences in diet are quantified for most species.The raptor assemblages in central Australia included specialists on medium-sized to large mammals, small to medium-sized birds, and small reptiles/invertebrates, as well as several generalists. Indices of prey diversity and evenness were calculated for each species, and diet overlap between them was used to investigate aspects of interspecific competition for food. Overall, diet overlap was greatest among the bird specialists and between some of the generalists. It increased in 1997, a year of comparative plenty, possibly because several species exploited an abundance of some prey taxa and competitive pressure eased. R a p t o r d i e t s i n t h e No r t h e r n T e r r i t o r y T . A u m a n n

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“…Several detailed studies have been conducted on the diet of wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) across their range (Leopold and Wolfe 1970;Brooker and Ridpath 1980;Baker-Gabb 1983;Hull 1986;Robertson 1987; Richards and Short 1998;Silva 1998;Harder 2000). Wedge-tailed eagles are generalist predators with prey choice displaying densitydependent characteristics, resulting in a diet that varies considerably between habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wedge-tailed eagles are generalist predators with prey choice displaying densitydependent characteristics, resulting in a diet that varies considerably between habitats. In areas where rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) densities are high, they can represent the major proportion of the eagle's diet (Leopold and Wolfe 1970;Brooker and Ridpath 1980;Richards and Short 1998). In the arid and semi-arid regions, where rabbit numbers are characteristically lower, macropods and reptiles increase in occurrence as prey items (Leopold and Wolfe 1970;Brooker and Ridpath 1980;Robertson 1987;Silva 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The breeding season diet of wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) in western New South Wales and the influence of Rabbit Calicivirus Disease

Sharp¹,

Gibson²,

Norton³

et al. 2002

Wildl. Res.

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A total of 2071 individual prey items were identified from 34 active and 55 inactive wedge-tailed eagle nests following the 1995, 1996 and 1997 breeding seasons. Overall, the eagle's diet was comparable to that reported in other studies within semi-arid regions, with rabbits, reptiles and macropods accounting for 47.8, 22.6 and 13.7% of prey items, respectively. In spring 1996 rabbit calicivirus moved into the study area, resulting in a 44-78% reduction in rabbit abundance (Sharp et al. 2001). An index was developed to enable the time since death for individual prey items to be approximated and a historical perspective of the eagle's diet to be constructed. Rabbits constituted 56-69% of dietary items collected during the pre-rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) samples, but declined to 31% and 16% in the two post-RCD samples. A reciprocal trend was observed for the proportion of reptiles in the diet, which increased from 8-21% of pre-RCD dietary items to 49-54% after the advent of RCD. Similarly, the proportion of avian prey items was observed to increase in the post-RCD samples. These data suggested that prey switching may have occurred following the RCD epizootic. However, a lack of data on the relative abundances of reptiles and birds prevented an understanding of the eagle's functional responses to be developed and definitive conclusions to be drawn. Nevertheless, the eagles were observed to modify their diet to the change in rabbit densities by consuming larger quantities of native prey species. T h e b r e e d i n g -s e a s o n d i e t o f w e d g e -t a i l e d e a g l e s A . S h a r p e t a l .W R 0 0 0 7 7 A . S h a r p , L . G i b s o n , M . N o r t o n , B . R y a n , A . Ma r k s a n d L . S e m e r a r o

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Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax Predation on Endangered Mammals and Rabbits at Shark Bay, Western Australia

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management

Complex interactions among mammalian carnivores in Australia, and their implications for wildlife management

An intraspecific and interspecific comparison of raptor diets in the south-west of the Northern Territory, Australia

The breeding season diet of wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax) in western New South Wales and the influence of Rabbit Calicivirus Disease

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