Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Nesting sea eagle slain by “love rival”
A conservation charity has reported that a female white-tailed sea eagle has been killed in a fight for territory by another bird of prey
a white-tailed sea eagle has apparently been killed in a rare instance of a fatal fight for a mate and breeding territory with another female of the species.
the Golden eagle trust, a charity dedicated to the conservation and restoration of ireland’s native birds and their habitats, recently reported on the death of a breeding female on its social media feed, though the incident took place in april.
a member found the carcase of the large healthy bird at a site in kerry and, while poisoning was initially suspected, the postmortem on the female instead suggested another white-tailed sea eagle was responsible.
Writing on its social media page, a spokesman for the Golden eagle
6 • Shooting times & Country magazine trust revealed: “she was in superb condition, but it was clear that she had been in a fight. Puncture wounds could be seen in her pectoral muscles that penetrated a few centimetres. the wounds were curved and could only have been made by another eagle’s talons. there was also a wound on the head. tests for poisons or other potential causes of death were also all negative. so our breeding female had been taken out by another eagle,” he concluded.
“eagles can and do kill other eagles but this is usually the case in populations where most or all the available territories and mates are already taken by other established pairs. in these cases, non-breeders may have to wait many years for a vacancy to arise. or they can risk a potential fight to the death to oust or kill one of the established pair.”
While the sitting male remained at the nest long enough to hatch a chick solo, the youngster did not survive. shortly afterwards, another female white-tailed sea eagle was sighted circling above the nest tree and the same bird was identified in the company of the original male in august. they are expected to make a new breeding pair for 2018 and add credit to the theory that the first female was killed for her breeding territory.
the charity further consulted sea eagle expert dr torgeir Nygård from the Norwegian institute for Nature research to ask whether interspecies conflict is more prevalent in countries with larger sea eagle populations. he explained that territorial fights are not unusual in Norway and can happen due to overpopulation or when “adult floaters” seek to acquire a mate and territory.
“Our breeding female had been taken out by another sea eagle”