White-tailed Eagle Strong and Muscullar Eagles

White-tailed Eagle in Scotland occurs in both inland and coastal habitats. In the past probably bred in lowland woods near estuaries, marshes and lochs, but during its decline in the 19th century became more restricted to the coast (Love 1983). Nests were usually on steep cliff ledges although trees were used wherever available. Since its reintroduction to Scotland, many old cliff sites are being reused, but some pairs prefer coastal woodlands or new forest plantations. In winter, adults tend to remain in the vicinity of their breeding territories, while juveniles and immatures range much more widely, often being found around estuaries on the east coast, and occasionally inland in agricultural areas or moorland.

Scottish Range, Distribution and Status
White-tailed Eagle, following a successful reintroduction in the 1970s and 1980s, has consolidated its position, so that there are now over 30 territorial pairs, mostly on the Inner and Outer Hebrides and on the west coast. Non-breeding, sub-adult birds wander over large distances and have been observed well away from the west coast breeding areas all over Scotland. A very small number of continental birds are also seen as passage birds and winter visitors.

White-tailed Eagle

Early evidence for the presence of White-tailed Eagle in Scotland include bones found in a Bronze Age burial cairn in North Ronaldsay (Orkney) (Hedges 1984), and the species is beautifully portrayed on various Pictish symbol stones, with the best being from the Knowe of Burrian, Mainland (Orkney) (Love 1983, 2003). It also features in early Celtic art, and particularly in Anglo-Saxon poetry in which eagles are described as scavenging off human corpses after a battle. James Fisher (1966a) considered that the mention of eagles in the 7th century Old English poem ‘The Seafarer’ referred to the Bass Rock (Lothian).

Over the centuries the felling of ancient woodland and the drainage of fens and marshes caused it to disappear from many lowland areas in England. A few pairs persisted in southern Scotland, such as the Mull of Galloway and Cairnsmore of Fleet (both Dumfries & Galloway), as recorded by early naturalists (Gladstone 1910a). By the 19th century, it had become largely a bird of the north and west coasts of Scotland and Shetland.

White-tailed Eagles are much more approachable, and more tolerant of human presence, than Golden Eagles, which makes them particularly vulnerable to persecution, by shooting and, given their carrion-feeding habits, especially amongst juveniles, poisoning. Other human factors such as over-fishing inshore, and the clearance of woodland beside streams, with the resultant loss of fertility and fish stocks from freshwater lochs, may also have impacted on White-tailed Eagles. It is significant that two other raptors to disappear from Scotland at the same time were the Osprey, a species much sought after by egg collectors, and the Red Kite, another carrion-feeder and an easy victim of poisoning. As White-tailed Eagle became rare late in the 19th century, its dull white eggs also began to attract interest. At this time the Highland Clearances forced people from inland habitats to those on the coast.

White-tailed Eagle

The coastal nests of such conspicuous and noisy birds as White-tailed Eagles were well known. Increasingly they became the target not just for collectors, but also gamekeepers, and shepherds angry at lamb losses. In
contrast, Golden Eagle, being a shy bird of the high mountains and glens, found sanctuary long enough to gain
a respite from persecution during the two World Wars.

By the beginning of the 20th century White-tailed Eagle was almost extinct (Historical Atlas). A few nests persisted, such as on the Shiant Islands (Outer Hebrides), A rd n a m u rchan Point, Rum (both Lochaber) and the remote headlands of Skye (Skye & Lochalsh), with the last pair breeding at Dunvegan Head, Skye in 1916. In Shetland up to five pairs bred in 1899, but by 1910 only one pair nested on Yell, with the male dying that year (Birds of Shetland). The female was shot in 1918, the last native White-tailed Eagle in Britain. When White-tailed Eagles had disappeared, Golden Eagles, which were slowly recovering numbers, were able to occupy former White tailed Eagle territories, even the very nest ledges, on the coast. Previously, both species had co-existed on larger, mountainous islands like Rum, Skye, Jura, Mull (latter two both Argyll) and Harris (Outer Hebrides), each species with its own specific set of ecological requirements.

There may have been a measure of overlap, but they were unlikely to have been in direct competition. White-tailed Eagle is slowly regaining former haunts on the coast where it will always be the better adapted of the two species due to its ability to fish (Love 2003). There have been some detailed studies into the diet of the re-established Scottish birds which indicate that there is some overlap of diet between White-tailed and Golden Eagles, with the former taking more birds and fish, and that some White-tailed Eagles specialise on certain prey (Watson et al. 1992a, Madders & Marquiss 2003, Marquiss et al. 2003b).

White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle subsequently became a very rare vagrant to Scotland, with just seven records from the 1920s to the 1950s. Most of these were seen on off-shore islands and in coastal areas, with three observed on Fair Isle, two on Shetland, and singles on Canna (Lochaber) and Mull (Yeaman 1932, Waterston 1936, Carrick & Waterston 1939, Birds of Shetland). On the mainland the head of an immature was recovered in Kincardineshire (North-east Scotland) in mid-June 1942 (Pennie 1942), and a sub-adult was present well inland at Av i e m o re (Badenoch & Strathspey) on 23 May 1927 (Gordon 1927b).

These vagrants were both immature and adult birds, likely originating from populations in Fennoscandia.
Careful guidelines were developed in the 1970s by conservation bodies to regulate animal re i n t roductions, for example, the persistence of suitable habitat, the removal of the original extinction factors, and a suitable donor population, which will not suffer as a result. All of this demands a thorough knowledge of the species’ past history, biology and current status. B&R began this process and Love (1983, 1988, 2003) provided greater detail.

The former distribution and demise of White-tailed Eagle in Britain, and in Scotland in part i c u l a r, was analysed using place names, such as Ern e ’s Heugh, Ern e ’s Brae and Creag na h-iolaire , along with written accounts from sportsmen and early naturalists. In addition, museum collections of eggs and skins w e re utilised. This research revealed nearly 100 known nest sites in Scotland, and there would have been many others, especially if more information had been available from early lowland areas. It also showed the geographical separation between White-tailed and Golden Eagles.

White-tailed Eagle was first re i n t roduced, unsuccessfully, in 1959 when three birds, including a captive adult, were set free in Glen Etive (Argyll) (Sandeman 1965). Four more birds were released in 1968 on Fair Isle (Dennis 1968, 1969b), but the first sustained eff o rt began on Rum in 1975, and a total of 82 were released by 1985 (Love 1983, 1988). A second phase was operated from Letterewe (Ross & Cromarty), with 58 more birds released between 1993 and 1998 (Evans et al. 2003b). All but one of the eagles set free in Scotland were fledglings taken under licence from northern Norway. At least 10% of the released birds have been found dead, mostly while they were immature.

Breeding in the wild commenced in 1983, and the first fledgling took wing in 1985. The first Scottish-bred birds nested in 1996, producing young two years later. Up to 2004 a total of 168 young had fledged in the wild and by then comprised nearly 60% of terr i t o ry-holders (R Evans pers. comm.). By 2004 t h e re were 32 occupied territories, confined to the west coast mainland and the Inner and Outer Hebrides, and the breeding population appeared to be self-sustaining.

The establishment of the reintroduced population was slow at first. No eggs were produced until 1983 when one of two breeding attempts involved a trio (a pair with a second female); both clutches were damaged as a consequence. Such trios have since been observed in the Scottish population several times, and may persist for several years. At the same time, a second pair formed between a three year old male and a four-year-old female (nicknamed ‘Blondie’), but they soon deserted their single egg. It was this pair that eventually produced, in 1985, the very first eaglet to be reared in Scotland for 70 years.

Although at times several birds, including apparent adults, have been seen together in both Orkney and Shetland, it is surprising that none have yet remained there to breed. One immature sighted in Shetland in June 2001 bore Norwegian colour rings (Birds of Shetland). Another colour-ringed bird, seen at Loch of Strathbeg (Nort h - e a s t Scotland) in March 2004 was from the continent, probably from Finland. An immature recovered dead in Norfolk in 1984 bore a ring from nort h e rnGermany, thus supporting the possibility that European birds may occur in Scotland in the future. The only Scottish bird sighted in England was a blue-tagged bird, fledged in 2002, which was seen in March 2003 in Bowland, Lancashire .