This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Eagles are symbols of hunting prowess. Known as top predators wherever they live, they are often assumed to kill as their primary mode of obtaining food.
However, a new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research reports the first confirmed case of sustained carrion use by Verreaux's eagles (Aquila verreauxii) in the Arabian Peninsula, suggesting that the species' diet may be more adaptable than previously realized. At a time when food webs are shifting and habitat health is in constant jeopardy, evidence of flexibility in top predators bolsters our understanding of how raptors can or cannot adapt to their changing environment. Verreaux's eagles are highly specialized predators that feed on two species of herbivorous mammals called rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis and Heterohyrax brucei).
This study took place in Saudi Arabia, where the arid landscape and accompanying heat resulted in periods of low prey availability. In December 2024, researchers from CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, Portugal, established a network of bait stations across the AlUla region in the northwestern part of the country, using goat carcasses to assess scavenger activity. Less than an hour after carcass deployment, two Verreaux's eagles appeared.
Three cameras were installed around a carcass, and the footage was thoroughly reviewed to investigate the timing, frequency and duration of visits to the carcass, as well as interactions between species. Lead author Bruno Martins of CIBIO-BIOPOLIS said the team was surprised at how much time the eagles spent with the carcass—with one individual remaining there for more than nine consecutive hours. "For a species so strongly associated with active predation on rock hyraxes, that degree of sustained carrion use was particularly unexpected," he said.
Scavenging by this eagle species had previously been reported in a limited number of studies from Africa but remained poorly documented and had never been confirmed in the Arabian Peninsula. The results of this study raise new questions: Is this behavior merely opportunistic, or does it suggest a revised categorization of the species' dietary habits? And if Verreaux's eagles are secret scavengers, what about other eagles?
It is possible that scavenging simply supplements the diet when few hyraxes are available, but more research is needed to determine the context of this behavior. Closely related African hawk-eagles (Aquila spilogaster) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are also opportunistic scavengers, and understanding the relative flexibility of these species to adopt different foraging tactics could inform conservation efforts moving forward. As Martins said, "Confirming that Verreaux's Eagles can make sustained use of carrion has implications for how we think about both risks and opportunities for the species." Interestingly, while the eagles were present at the goat carcass, other scavengers gave it a wide berth.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
