V 14 No.4 - The Scottish Ornithologists' Club

1987
Short Notes 209
Short Notes
Golden Eagles attacking deer and sheep
Publication of Graham Rebecca's note on
this topic (SB 14: 86) resulted in the submission
of several reports of Golden Eagles
attempting to take red deer; these are summarised
below. More recently we received
the following note recording an instance in
which an eagle attacked and killed a sheep.
The fact that, despite extensive fieldwork
carried out on this species over many years,
such an incident has not been documented
previously suggests that it is a very exceptional
occurrence. While it would be
undesirable to suppress this record, which
is of scientific interest, it is also important
that it is not taken out of context and
regarded as of major significance. R.H.
Dennis has also pointed out that very
unusual behaviour, such as attacks on dogs
and domestic poultry, has been recorded in
eagles which have escaped or been released
from captivity. There is no suggestion that
the bird referred to in Peter Ewins' note was
other than wild, but the origin of birds
carrying out unprecedented behaviour may
be suspect. Ed.
Eagles and Red Deer
In January 1965 James Wilson was stalking
hinds and calves on Badanloch Estate,
Sutherland, when an eagle stooped and hit
a calf, knocking it over. The calf recovered
and rejoined the rest of the stampeding
herd, which swam a burn in full spate. The
keeper he was accompanying commented
that it took a lot to put deer into nearfreezing
water. On 17 September 1980, near
the east coast of Islay, Keith Verral and a
friend watched a juvenile Golden Eagle
attacking a hind on the fringe of a mixed
herd of deer, landing on her back and gripping
her shoulder and hindquarters. The
hind dislodged the eagle by throwing back
her head. After several such unsuccessful
attacks, during which the deer were moving
downhill, the eagle gave up. On 20
November 1982, in Glen Clunie (near
Braemar), Ron Youngrnan saw an immature
eagle making repeated dives, with its talons
extended, at a party of four hinds. The bird
came to within 4-5 feet of the deer but never
actually struck them. There was heavy snow
cover at the time.
Golden fdgIe attacking and killing sheep
On 27 October 1981 M.W. Richards and I
watched a female Golden Eagle Aquila
chrysaetos attack and kill a fully-grown
Blackface ewe on the west coast of Scotland.
A pair of adult eagles, accompanied by an
immature, were patrolling an open hillside,
on which a loose flock of Blackface ewes
were grazing. The female eagle suddenly
stooped from the ridge down towards a
group of about six ewes, which panicked
and ran downhill. All six sheep appeared to
be fully fit adults and there was no indication
that a weak individual had been singled
out. Within a few seconds the eagle had
plunged its talons into the neck of one ewe,
which fell to the ground. The eagle retained
its grip on the ewe's neck for the next 20
minutes, despite initially being periodically
tossed around by the spasms of the dying
ewe. When the eagle finally released her grip
she tugged at the fleece a couple of times
before flying c.250 m up the hillside to perch
beside the other two eagles, at which stage
c.50 Hooded Crows Corvus corone moved
in to the carcass. One hour later both adult
eagles were feeding at the carcass, tearing
at skin and flesh, and one remained feeding
until dusk. Two days later three eagles were
again flying over this hillside, the male
displaying along the ridge. The sheep carcass
had been removed, presumably by the
shepherd, whose house was only c.500 m
away, and only a few crows and scattered
bits of wool remained.