{"id":1201,"date":"2017-11-16T18:29:05","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T18:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2017-11-17T03:18:59","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T03:18:59","slug":"life-at-the-landfill-a-foraging-frenzy-for-bald-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2017\/11\/16\/life-at-the-landfill-a-foraging-frenzy-for-bald-eagles\/","title":{"rendered":"Life at the Landfill: A Foraging Frenzy for Bald Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

With their piercing eagle eyes and strong sharp talons, these glorious raptors are known for their powerful flight tactics and precise hunting and fishing skills.\u00a0The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus<\/em>) is considered to be\u00a0an apex predator and one of the largest birds of prey in North America (Elliott et al. <\/em>2015<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Bald Eagle catching its prey (Photo by Rob Palmer<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

As mentioned in my previous blog post<\/a>, eagles feed primarily on fish but are quite adaptable,\u00a0including other birds, reptiles and small mammals into their diet (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015<\/a>). In some cases, these efficient predators can actually deplete small prey populations (Harvey et al.<\/em> 2012<\/a>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Bald Eagle stealing food from an Osprey, demonstrating kleptoparasitism (Photo by Martin Belan<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

These birds of prey are natural born hunters that have adopted various opportunistic feeding strategies to meet their high daily dietary requirements associated with their large size and costly flight (Harvey et al.<\/em> 2012<\/a>).\u00a0An interesting adaptation to acquiring their food is known as kleptoparasitism (stealing the food of other animals) (Dekker and Drever, 2015<\/a>), allowing them to reap the rewards of others, with little effort!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A raptor keeping an eye out on the runway at YVR (Photo by Ben Nelms of The Globe and Mail<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

FUN FACT:\u00a0<\/strong>Some organizations such as The Raptors<\/a> use Bald Eagles and other birds of prey as a form of wildlife management in locations such as the Vancouver International Airport. Since raptors are natural predators, they can effectively control various problem species including gulls, crows and robins by chasing them out of the area, clearing runways and preventing potential aircraft collisions (The Raptors, 2016<\/a>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out the link below that includes a short video and the CBC news story about Hercules, the juvenile Bald Eagle who has joined the team of raptors working to keep the Vancouver International Airport runways safe and free of problem bird species!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/british-columbia\/bald-eagle-joins-vancouver-airport-s-battle-of-the-birds-1.2490845<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about wildlife management apart of The Raptors Organization click here:\u00a0http:\/\/pnwraptors.com\/wildlife-management\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

As discussed in my previous blog post<\/a>, the Bald Eagles were apart of a miraculous conservation success story, overcoming severe population declines due to pesticides such as DDT (Sorenson et al.<\/em> 2017<\/a>) and other anthropogenic (human-caused) effects including habitat destruction (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015<\/a>). However, the growing populations of Bald Eagles has presented some challenges for natural resource management (Harvey et al.<\/em> 2012<\/a>), and has lead to a shortage of food resources for these marvelous birds.<\/p>\n

In the winter months, the fish in local streams become less abundant and resident (non-migratory) Bald Eagles undergo dietary shifts, feeding instead on small water birds and land mammals (Turrin et al.<\/em> 2015<\/a>). Some individuals however, take these dietary adjustments to a new and unfortunate level, seeking resources from nearby landfills.<\/p>\n