SerpApi.Org
Dozens of sea eagles are to be fitted with satellite tags after farmers complained they were snatching lambs.
NatureScot, a Scottish government agency, said 40 of the birds of prey are to be fitted with tags for a research project investigating how they “interact” with livestock.
Experts will use data from the tags to monitor the eagles’ movements and how many sheep and lambs they eat.
The move was welcomed by farmers, who have repeatedly complained of the raptors killing large numbers of lambs and sheep on the west coast of Scotland.
A farmer from South Uist in the Outer Hebrides claimed last year that the eagles, which are Britain’s largest birds of prey, were responsible for the disappearance of five Shetland pony foals from his hillside croft.
NFU Scotland (NFUS) said the research needed to result in “practical, targeted management solutions” to the eagles preying on their livestock.
Known as “flying barn doors”, sea eagles have a wing span of up to 8ft. They became extinct in Scotland in 1917, but were reintroduced in the mid-1970s as part of an effort to increase biodiversity and boost tourism efforts.
Birds from Norway were released on Rum and in Wester Ross on the west coast from 1975 to 1985 and in Fife on the east coast from 2007 to 2012.
There are now around 200 breeding pairs of the birds also known, in Scotland, as white-tailed eagles.
One farm that has been monitored by the authorities lost an additional 181 lambs between 2012 and 2018. A farmer on Skye has described lambs as being “like a breakfast bar” to the eagles.
Over the next two years, licensed ornithologists will fit up to 35 satellite tags to sea eagle chicks when they are about eight weeks old. By then, the chicks are full sized and getting ready to fledge at 10 weeks.
Researchers hope the tags, which can last for years, will provide an insight into where the chicks travel after leaving their natal home.
The project will focus on sea eagles nesting in Argyll, in the Highlands, and the Western Isles. It aims to deploy the remaining five tags on adult breeding sea eagles, which are more difficult to trap.
However, ornithologists managed to trap, tag and release an adult sea eagle on the Western Isles earlier this year, and farmers can volunteer to host trapping work on their land.
Project will provide insight into birds’ movements
Andrew Stevenson, NatureScot’s senior ornithologist, said: “This project will greatly add to our understanding of how sea eagles move around and their interaction with livestock.
“A key gap in our knowledge is what role immature eagles play in predating livestock, given they wander widely during their first three to four years until they settle on a territory. Tagging is the best way to get a handle on what they may be doing.”
He said the tag data would also help the project understand how eagles use their habitat, and how they are affected by wind farms.
The research group will report back regularly and NatureScot will provide updates on its website.
Georgia Watson, an NFUS policy manager, backed the scheme, saying it would provide “a clear, shared evidence base on sea eagle behaviour”.
She said: “For farmers and crofters in affected areas, understanding when and where interactions with livestock occur is critical.
“This research must lead to practical, targeted management solutions that give farmers confidence that impacts on livestock are being properly recognised and addressed.”
Donna Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation, said: “Crofters are reporting increased sightings and issues with sea eagles each year so this research is a very welcome development.”
The project is a partnership between NatureScot, RSPB, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Natural Research Ltd and a collective of independent ornithologists.
They are sharing the costs of and resources between them, with policy input from the NFUS and the Scottish Crofting Federation.
SRUC is also tracking lambs in Argyll using GPS neck collars as part of a separate research project. It is expected this will complement the tagging scheme.
NatureScot investigated a claim by Donald John Cameron, a crofter, last year that the eagles were snatching his Shetland pony foals.
However, the agency concluded that there was no evidence to support his allegation after an analysis of prey remains in nearby eagle nests found no foal bones.
