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Unusual Golden Eagle Behaviour (1 Viewer)

jpoyner

jpoyner

Well-known member
Scotland
Today I was fortunate enough to encounter three imm. Golden Eagles hunting in Strathdearn, south of Inverness and witnessed something I've certainly never come across before. The three birds appeared to be hunting together, with a lead bird followed by the other two. There were a group of Red Deer hinds standing on a hillside which the birds quickly made for. They flew in fast and in line, the first Eagle hitting the back of one of the deer with its talons, closely followed by a similar swoop from the following birds. They repeated this attack several times.
I have seen single Eagles do this to Red Deer but never in a group! The behaviour certainly resembled a form of "pack" hunting. Anyone know if this has been recorded before with Goldies? Needless to say it was a great days birding, particularly as they were joined for a while in a soar by two White-tailed Eagles!!

John.
 
jpoyner said:
Today I was fortunate enough to encounter three imm. Golden Eagles hunting in Strathdearn, south of Inverness and witnessed something I've certainly never come across before. The three birds appeared to be hunting together, with a lead bird followed by the other two. There were a group of Red Deer hinds standing on a hillside which the birds quickly made for. They flew in fast and in line, the first Eagle hitting the back of one of the deer with its talons, closely followed by a similar swoop from the following birds. They repeated this attack several times.
I have seen single Eagles do this to Red Deer but never in a group! The behaviour certainly resembled a form of "pack" hunting. Anyone know if this has been recorded before with Goldies? Needless to say it was a great days birding, particularly as they were joined for a while in a soar by two White-tailed Eagles!!

John.
Click to expand...


What occurred John...did they manage to fell the Deer?
Certainly sounds fantastic....and some of us were in Devon in a Rugby scrum...over this w/e!!!
 
Dryocopus said:
What occurred John...did they manage to fell the Deer?
Certainly sounds fantastic....and some of us were in Devon in a Rugby scrum...over this w/e!!!
Click to expand...

No, the deer scattered down the hillside. I have heard incidental accounts of Eagles carrying out similar attacks and panicking the deer enough to make them fall and injure themselves but not sure how much truth there is in this. But certainly seem that this is what they might be doing......the animals were on a very steep rocky slope at the time did panic.
Be interested if anyone could point me to an actual documented account of a successful deer kill by this method.

John
 
Jeff Watson's book on the Golden Eagle refers to occurences of tandem hunting by pairs of birds, but I can't find any reference to groups of more than two birds hunting together. There is a reference to this tandem hunting being less succesful than solo hunts, but only possibly because observations of the the former have involved larger and more elusive prey. Sounds like it might be worth documenting your observations John.

Cheers,

Stuart
 
Wonderful sighting. John - now that's really memorable :t:

Your account should certainly be written up and published - I'd also PM a mod and give the thread a snappier title, many more people should be reading this.

I don't get jealous much but ... that really does sound like a great days birding!

Cheers,

Andy.
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
Wonderful sighting. John - now that's really memorable :t:

Your account should certainly be written up and published - I'd also PM a mod and give the thread a snappier title, many more people should be reading this.

I don't get jealous much but ... that really does sound like a great days birding!

Cheers,

Andy.
Click to expand...

I would guess BB would be the best place? It was a pretty amazing day! Have been watching Eagles at locations all over Scotland for 15 years and can certainly say it was pretty unique. I think weather may have played a role as the day before had been awful and the sighting was made in a short break between another weather front approaching. I have noticed before that Eagles do seem to become far more active not only after prolonged rain but ahead of approaching weather. Seems quite reasonable to suppose that they are aware of approaching bad weather and become more desperate in their attempts to find food.

John
 
It is documented that pairs of Golden Eagles (Seton Gordon - The Golden Eagle) will coordinate their hunting methods in order to drive Deer to fall to their death or severe injury, however it is the first time I've heard of 3 birds doing this. It's most likely that this was 2 adults and a bird of the year learning it's hunting skills.

nirofo.
 
Nice one JP. I remember seeing 2 Adults and a Juv together on 2 occasions, The Great Glen near Perth and a few years later near Aviemore, however they were just cruising but were obvious family groups.

PS Can you send one of the Sea Eagles down here--that would really make my day.
15+ GN Divers at Rattray at the moment--nice.
 
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I dont understand why a 12 pound eagle would go after 300+ deer?? Wouldnt the deer just tear apart the eagle with its massive antlers? Those deer are HUGE!
 
scuba0095 said:
I dont understand why a 12 pound eagle would go after 300+ deer?? Wouldnt the deer just tear apart the eagle with its massive antlers? Those deer are HUGE!
Click to expand...
Hi Scuba,

Red deer size very much depends on habitat and available food. A red stag from Norfolk in the middle of England for instance, feeding on grain, root veg, and lush vegetation and living mainly in woodland/farmland, may well tip the scales at over 300lb and have a huge 24 point or over head. Where John lives in northern Scotland life is far more harsh and food less nourishing. Where I used to live, a little further south and west than John, stags used to weigh typically 190-220lb, antlers were far smaller than Norfolk stags - a royal (12 pointer) being exceptional. Hinds 90-120lb.

Jonathan
 
scuba0095 said:
I dont understand why a 12 pound eagle would go after 300+ deer?? Wouldnt the deer just tear apart the eagle with its massive antlers? Those deer are HUGE!
Click to expand...
Deer will run from anything they conceive as a threat, that's exactly what the Eagles want them to do! If they run off in a panic it's possible they will fall over a cliff, or trip and break a leg, whatever. It presents the birds with a large prey item that will sustain them for some time, especially in Winter when prey is scarce on the hill. They may have to wait some time for the deer to die from it's injuries, or possibly from starvation, but they're not in any hurry, they can continue hunting until it's ready. As for being attacked by the deer, the Eagles probably wouldn't go near it until they knew it was dead, just the same as Vultures wait for their prey to die before going in and ripping it apart!

nirofo.
 
I've been lucky enough to see a pair hunting in tandem like this, going after a half grown hind but I've certainly not heard of 3 birds doing so.

Amazing stuff.

Rob
 
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