Does anyone know if the Golden eagle apartments are going to open for the fall? I applied for housing today but wasn't given an option for that area. Only to the dorms on campus.
When talking about large carnivores, we usually think only about mammals. Birds are extremely underestimated from this certain point of view, only discussed when speaking about scavengers.
One of the most underrated large predator of the Boreal Emisphere is surely the Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos). Ironic, since golden eagles are way more capable of killing big animals then a bear. Their diet vary depending on prey avaiability, but it usually compromise medium sized animals.
Golden eagles are known to eat lots of hares and marmots in openlandscape, but in certain locations their more frequent prey can be even deers. In Italian Alps, roe deers are the most hunted prey of Golden Eagle, which made up to 32% of their nest remains (Pedrini, P. & Sergio, F. 2001). Rocky climbing mammals, that can be even 10 times heavier than a G. eagle, are regularly taken down by dropping them from cliffs (Nievergelt, B. 1966 ). Red deers can also be a potential prey for G. eagles, with some areas of scottish Higlands where this species can compromise 22% of their prey remains (Watson, Jeff (2010)). Wild boar piglets are also hunted in various regions with a fairly reglarity (over 7% of their diet), like in the Bulgarian mountains.
In tundra, G. eagles are known to be the most significant predator of calves of reindeer, but even sub-adults can be taken, with some reports of 60 kg reindeers taken down by adult golden eagles ( Russell, D. E., & McNeil, P. 2002). Large preys like this are easily killed by swooping down on their neck, potentially causing neural damages to the neural spine. The strong grip made by their large claws help to inflict wounds in the large blood vessels under the spine. After that, eagles wait for the deer to die from blood loss.
Golden eagles act also as mesocarnivore regulator, since red foxes and other medium sized carnivores can be often taken down in certain seasons. Even domestic cats can be found in eagle nests, altough not in large percentage (usually not more than 4%)
Summarized, golden eagles can be seen as a flying corrrispective of a lynx and they are more effective at controlling ungulates than a bear, making it one of the most important large carnivore of the Olartic. Golden eagle conservation should be seen as important as the one of other ecologically important predators, like wolves.
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