The White - Tailed Eagle Review

Is the study of the interactions a species has with both living and none living factors in the environment encyclopaedia Britannica. I chose to look in depth at the autecology of the united kingdoms largest bird of prey the white-tailed eagle haliaeetus albicilla rspb the haliaeetus albicilla are powerful and magnificent birds of prey that are also commonly named sea eagle the wildlife trust history and morphology unfortunately the white-tailed eagle has a very sad history in the united kingdom. 

They were persecuted to extinction in the 19th and 20th century. this was due to them being falsely blamed for preying on livestock then hunted. a reintroduction of the species to scotland then began in 1975 and more recently to the east coast. this deemed to be an extremely successful but lengthy process. but they later took another hit in the 1950s and 60s due to organochlorine pesticides this caused the shell walls of eggs laid to be thinned dennis.

I researched confirmed sightings of the white-tailed eagle using date sourced from nbn atlas partnership 2017 in total they have records on 14 085 sightings across uk and ireland. I looked at how the numbers increased and decreased over the decades following the reintroduction see diagram 1 it is evident that even though the reintroduction was successful there is still active threats to date. Haliaeetus albicilla is easy to spot a fully-grown adult has a golden yellow bill greyish brown feathers that cover its body with white highlights throughout but mainly concentrated towards it head.  

Obviously it also has the distinctive white tail and a wingspan that can reach 2.5m j.t.r.sharrock 1994 females are larger than males females weight between 4-7kg and males around 3.5-5kg. rspb n.d. due to its size long sharp talons and powerful beak the white-tailed eagle has no natural enemies which allows it to live happily alongside other smaller birds in a symbiotic relationship. 

Habitat the white-tailed eagle lives along coastal areas or around fresh water sources. Using the sightings from diagram 1 they are mainly found in scotland nbn atlas partnership 2017 below is distribution map that shows where they are nesting in the uk and ireland see image1 image 1 food reproduction a white-tailed eagle is between 4 and 5 years of age before they are mature enough to begin mating. 

Mating season for these birds begins around march and april. the female will likely return to an earlier prepared nest from a previous mating season or an abandoned nest if not she will prepare a nest before partaking in the mating process. She will look for a strong tall tree to begin to make a nest it will be around 2m in diameter and can weigh up to a ton. Once she is satisfied with her nest she will begin the search for her mate. white-tailed eagles bond for life once they find their mate remaining loyal even after death the hawk and owl trust..