Survival, Nest Site Affiliation and Post-Fledging Movements of Danish White-Tailed Eagles ( Haliaeetus albicilla )

The early life movement patterns of long-lived, large raptors, such as the white-tailed eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ), remain largely unexplored. In this study, we have tracked 22 individuals of white-tailed eagles hatched in Denmark to investigate key parameters, including survival rates, causes o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diversity
Main Authors: Daniel Palm Eskildsen, Nina Yasmin Ali, Jonas Colling Larsen, Kasper Thorup, Kim Skelmose, Anders P. Tøttrup
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024
Subjects:
survival
mortality
nest site affiliation
post-fledging movements
satellite telemetry
conservation
Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
Haliaeetus albicilla
White-tailed eagle
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/d16060314
https://doaj.org/article/35c6717f7a8a43069b0dfee18d70a4e3
Description
Summary:The early life movement patterns of long-lived, large raptors, such as the white-tailed eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla ), remain largely unexplored. In this study, we have tracked 22 individuals of white-tailed eagles hatched in Denmark to investigate key parameters, including survival rates, causes of death, nest site fidelity, geographical distribution, and dispersal behaviors. Our analyses are based on approximately 340,000 GPS/GSM telemetry positions from the 22 individuals. We found that survival rates were lower in the first year of life, especially among females, but increased in subsequent years. The primary causes of death were wind turbine collisions and avian influenza. Movement analyses revealed that juvenile eagles frequented nest sites in August and September, with females showing earlier exploratory flights and dispersal. Both males and females spent most of their first calendar year near their nest sites. In the second calendar year, a significant proportion of their time was spent at well-known white-tailed eagle resting areas in Denmark, as well as visiting neighboring countries. Notably, one individual set a new distance record for a Danish GPS-tagged white-tailed eagle, venturing at least 1750 km away from its nest site to visit Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Norway. Our results, indicating that juvenile white-tailed eagles continue to utilize nest sites into September, suggest an extension of the recommended time period for nest protection zones provided by BirdLife Denmark (DOF).

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