title: White-tailed eagle

text: In total, about 38 species of waterfowl are known to be hunted, as well as all available species of loons and grebes, several types of rails, tubenoses as well as herons, storks and other assorted large waders. White-tailed eagles also are known to hunt some 42 species of shorebird, most significantly gulls and alcids. Even shorebirds as small as little stint ("Calidris minuta"), wood sandpiper ("Tringa glareola") and common ringed plover ("Charadrius hiaticula") are known to be preyed upon, albeit quite rarely. More than a dozen gulls are known in the prey spectrum from the smallest to all four largest extant species. In the United Kingdom, northern fulmar ("Fulmarus glacialis") are noted as a common prey species and as such may contribute to locally high levels of DDT and PCB chemicals in nesting eagles. However, fulmars defend themselves by regurgitating a smelly, tar-like oily substance that can impair the flight of predators and may even kill some intended predators when it is in large quantity, and young juvenile eagles, being less cautious and experienced, are most prone to being severely "oiled". Alcids such as murres tend to become especially important in the diet of eagles in coastal Norway during winter, especially near offshore islands, when coastal fish tend to move to deeper waters. At least eight species of dabbling duck are known in the prey spectrum. Due to the social inclination of dabbling ducks, they perhaps have the most success hunting isolated birds but they've also been taken from panic-stricken flocks as well. Despite the difficulty of taking them, dabbling ducks of unidentified species were found to be the main food of white-tailed eagles in Lake Baikal, where they comprised 51.8% of 199 prey items. In Fennoscandia, they are attracted to coastal waters during winter to attack large numbers of diving ducks including eiders, common goldeneye ("Bucephala clangula"), common ("Mergus merganser") and red-breasted mergansers ("Mergus serrator"), tufted ducks ("Aythya fuligula") and scoters. Year around in Åland, 66.2% of 5161 food items were birds, while in the three sites in different parts of Finland birds made up 51.1% of 3152 food items. In Germany, 52.4% of 1637 prey items were birds, mostly coots and unidentified waterfowl. More locally in Germany, in Müritz National Park the percentage of birds in the diet climbs to 65.73% Birds were strongly dominant in food records from Scotland, making up 73.53% of 1930 prey items, and in Kandalaksha Nature Reserve, where they comprised 75% of 523 prey items.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: While most of the aforementioned water birds are modest of size and taken largely due to ease (diving water birds, whether healthy or infirm, and usually infirm or molting dabbling water birds), white-tailed eagles routinely attack larger water birds as well. In many areas, large numbers of graylag geese ("Anser anser"), Europe's largest native wild goose, are taken. For example, they were the main prey, making up 28.2% of 192 prey items, for wintering eagles in Oostvaardersplassen, Netherlands, and the second most often recorded prey species in both Müritz National Park (Germany), where they made up 16.42% of 247 prey items, and in Austria, where they made up 9.5% of 349 items. White-tailed eagles are known to prey on at least 10 species of geese, ranging in size from the red-breasted goose ("Branta ruficollis") to the non-native Canada goose ("Branta canadensis"). They will take many goslings during summer, as greylag goslings alone can comprise up 23% of the seasonal bird prey, and fully-grown geese in other seasons. Large waders are taken when possible, including a half dozen heron species, and, larger still, both the young and adults of common cranes ("Grus grus") and both the black and the white stork ("Ciconia ciconia"). Black and white storks are primary prey species in the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, Belarus, where they comprised 12.6% (second most regular prey species) and 6.3% (fourth most regular) of the diet, respectively. Large numbers of black stork were also taken in Augustów Primeval Forest where nearly 50 were found around eagle nests. They are reported to have attacked and eaten the largest seabirds they encounter, such as great cormorants ("Phalacrocorax carbo") and in some cases, such as in the Baltic Sea, have nearly destroyed whole colonies, from the eggs to the adults which average about . In the Estonian island of Hiiumaa, home to at least 25 pairs of sea eagles, as many as 26 individuals have been observed simultaneously culling a single cormorant colony. Similarly large numbers were taken of the Japanese cormorant ("Phalacrocorax capillatus"), which was the second most numerous prey species, making up 11.63% of 533 prey items in Hokkaido, and opportunistically, when their north Atlantic colonies are accessed, great numbers of northern gannets ("Morus bassanus"). Vagrant white-tailed eagles in Hawaii were recorded to prey on several Laysan albatross ("Phoebastria immutabilis") and were suspected to prey on black-footed albatross ("Phoebastria nigripes"), both weighing about . Another large water bird taken as adults are common loons ("Gavia immer"). However, the largest water birds they are known to kill are adult swans, including mute ("Cygnus olor"), whooper ("Cygnus cygnus") and Bewick's swans ("Cygnus columbianus bewickii"). While cygnets and disabled birds (either by natural conditions such as ice or by human hunters) are at the greatest risk for eagle predation, white-tailed eagles have prey upon even healthy adult swans weighing at least .


title: White-tailed eagle

text: While land birds are a more infrequently part of the diet, at least 60 species have been recorded in the white-tailed eagles prey spectrum. For the most part, land birds are taken so infrequently as to not warrant much mention. However, variable numbers of gamebirds are taken opportunistically, and in Belarus and Russia, especially around the White Sea where ptarmigan are not infrequent prey, they will take a few grouse. White-tailed eagles are known to prey on some numbers of ring-necked pheasant ("Phasianus colchicus") in Austria. They will at times attack adult male western capercaillie ("Tetrao urogallus"), of note for their large size at . However, this is dwarfed by the largest avian prey credited to a white-tailed eagle, an adult male great bustard ("Otis tarda"), which weighed an estimated (which, much like exceptionally large fish taken, must have been consumed in the killing spot or subsequently dismantled as too large to fly with). Among the land birds taken, more than 20 passerines are included in the prey spectrum but most are obviously too small and swift to be anything but incidental prey. The smallest avian prey known for white-tailed eagles was a great tit ("Parus major"), a species which weighs on average. On one hand, small bird prey may be under-recorded since they leave few conspicuous remains but, on the other, are unlikely worthy of much pursuit as they have little food value. However, in one case, a white-tailed eagle was seen to fly into a murmuration of Eurasian starlings ("Sturnus vulgaris") and come away with a starling in hand. The only passerine family taken in numbers would be the larger corvids, of which eight species are known in the prey spectrum. In Hokkaido, Japan, two species of corvid were well-represented in the diet, the large-billed crow ("Corvus macrorhynchos") and the carrion crow ("Corvus corone"), which together comprised 14.8% of 533 prey items.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Mammals are usually a quite secondary component of the diet. Although usually better represented than other non-fish and birds prey, their regional importance is variable. In known dietary studies, the mammalian contribution can vary from 0.49% to 41% of prey by number. When mammals are most significant to the diet, it usually due to local white-tailed eagles preying on rabbits and hares with some regularity. In some studies from Scotland, the European rabbit ("Oryctolagus cuniculus") and mountain hare ("Lepus timidus") were found to contribute as much as nearly 25% of the diet. A similar contribution of European hares ("Lepus europaeus") was found in the diet of Austria, where hares were the leading prey species making up 24.35% of 349 prey items (with mammals making up 34.67% of the overall diet). In studies from Germany, European hares were taken fairly often but were numerically secondary prey. Given that these rabbits and hares have average mature weights from in rabbits to in European and Arctic hares ("Lepus arcticus"), they can make a hearty contribution to the prey biomass when available (although certainly juveniles are attacked as much if not more so than adult rabbits and hares).


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The most widely reported mammalian prey known usually as a supplemental prey species are rodents, especially the non-native muskrat ("Ondatra zibethicus"), which averages about , and may be taken from "muskrat farms" or feral wetland populations. While largely a supplemental prey item, a respectable number of 137 were recorded in the diet from Finland. Also, a study on the Ili delta in Kazakhstan has shown up to 30–43% of prey remains at eyries to consist of muskrat in spring and fall but only 14% in summer (for unknown reasons). In total, about 20 rodent species are known in the white-tailed eagle's prey spectrum. In some of the coldest climes of Russia, such as in the Ural mountains or the Kola peninsula, white-tailed eagles have been recorded to live on surprisingly high numbers of small rodents, comprising 13.8% and more than 21% of all prey remains, respectively. Even agile red squirrels ("Sciurus vulgaris") may be caught from trees in some cases. The smallest rodents known in the prey spectrum are the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the wood mouse ("Apodemus sylvaticus") but mammalian prey down to the size of common shrews ("Sorex araneus"), indeed the smallest vertebrate known to have been preyed upon, has been recorded. By contrast, kits of larger rodents such as Eurasian ("Castor fiber") and North American beavers ("Castor canadensis") (introduced) have been found as prey.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Other mammals are also taken, usually canids and mustelid. At least seven species of mustelid have been recorded in the white-tailed eagle's diet, from the smallest weasel to polecats, martens, sables, and rarely, even adult European otters ("Lutra lutra"). Another mustelid, the American mink ("Neogale vison") was introduced as a furbearer to Finland but then became an invasive pest, as a fast-breeding killer that threatens many native species. In turn, Finnish white-tailed eagles have become the main natural control and may inhibit the mink from breeding via heavy predation. Conversely, the white-tailed eagle has not been known to prey on the critically endangered, native European mink ("Mustela lutreola") (perhaps due to its shier habits) which the American mink are known to have been outcompeting in some areas (but the European has mainly declined due to massive overhunting by humans as a furbearer). Among canids, pups of Arctic foxes ("Vulpes lagopus") being the sixth most regular prey species in Greenland. Several red foxes ("Vulpes vulpes") was taken or scavenged in Norway and Finland, and successful predatory attacks on red fox have been reported in Belarus. White-tailed eagles are often considered potential predators of raccoon dogs, and several predation has been reported in Poland and Belarus. Additionally, a white-tailed eagle was once observed to kill and feed on a live adult golden jackal ("Canis aureus") that was trapped in a furbearer's trap. White-tailed eagles are known to prey on seal pups but most are likely sickly and perhaps both adult and pup seals are most likely to be eaten as carrion. Four Baikal seal ("Pusa sibirica") pups were taken in Lake Baikal. They are considered a predator even for live grey seal ("Halichoerus grypus") pups that weigh at birth. In one instance, a white-tailed eagle reportedly tried to attack an adult harbor seal ("Phoca vitulina") but was immediately dragged into the water and soon surfaced dying with a broken wing. Similarly, in one anecdote, an eagle drowned while apparently attacking an adult harbor porpoise ("Phocoena phocoena").


title: White-tailed eagle

text: More than a dozen ungulate species have been found in the foods of white-tailed eagles, but a very large proportion of this is likely from carrion found already dead. Very large food sources such as horses ("Equus ferus caballus"), moose ("Alces alces"), cattle ("Bos taurus") and European bison ("Bison bosanus") are certainly visited as carrion always. Wild ungulate species known to have their young attacked by white-tailed eagles in variable numbers may include deer such as reindeer ("Rangifer tarandus"), red deer ("Cervus elaphus") and European roe deer ("Capreolus capreolus") and wild boar ("Sus scrofa"). Boar made up 7.1% of the prey remains at Polesski Reserve, Belarus. At least two successful attacks on adult roe deer have been reported, which could potentially weigh around (their average mature weight), in addition to several cases of predation on young roe deer. A yearling juvenile male eagle scaling , newly reintroduced into the wild on the isle of Rùm killed a healthy, red deer calf within a couple of days. One of the primary causes of the white-tailed eagles persecution by humans is that white-tailed eagles often feed on domestic sheep ("Ovis aries") and goats ("Capra aegagrus hircus"), especially lambs and kids. However, they do not necessarily take healthy specimens and often feed on them after death, instead. Of 36 cases of feeding on lambs and kids by white-tailed eagles in Norway, only 12 could be proven to have been taken alive by the eagles.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Prey of other animal classes is rarely taken by white-tailed eagles. Particularly, the diversity of reptiles known in the prey spectrum, at only six species, is quite paltry when compared to the many species known to be hunted by the bald eagle. Further among amphibians only two species of toad are known to be taken. The Ural mountains is the only region where some diversity of reptile and amphibian species have been reported in their diet. In only the white-tailed eagles nesting in Hokkaido, they've been known to hunt large cephalopods such as robust clubhook squid ("Onykia robusta") and giant Pacific octopus ("Enteroctopus dofleini"), though likely mainly younger specimens and those collected and perhaps injured by large-scale fishing operations. White-tailed eagle juveniles have been seen rarely foraging for unidentified clams and mussels on the Rhine. However, the miscellaneous shells of marine mussels and snails found in Norway are probably usually consumed secondarily from the stomachs of eiders. An exceptional number of insects, amounting to 24% of food items by number, were found in the foods of white-tailed eagles in Augustów Primeval Forest, almost entirely Odonata. The source of this food is not clear as the white-tailed eagle is far too large and bulky a raptor to invest much time in pursuit of insects.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: As the largest eagle in the majority of its distribution, the white-tailed eagle is an apex predator in its range. In some areas it may compete with other large raptors, especially golden eagles. Relations between these two species are complex and variable. In Scotland, where both eagles have been reintroduced or re-established, competition is considerable. This is, in part, due to their diets being more similar here than elsewhere in their range, with both species preying heavily on rabbits and hares and being reliant on carrion all year round, whereas in most other areas both favor carrion mostly only in winter. As much as 90% of their diets in Scotland can overlap. The white-tailed eagle elsewhere usually prefers fish and water birds. Another factor is the reintroduction of white-tailed eagles occurred after golden eagles had been re-established in Scotland and that some of the golden eagles began to nest beyond their usually rocky, mountainous habitats, in or near trees in coastal or near lowland wet areas historically occupied by white-tailed eagles. More territorial conflicts between the species have been recorded in the last few decades. Given appropriate healthy populations and ample habitat, as in Norway, the golden and white-tailed eagles are considerably segregated in nesting regions and direct competition is much milder. In spite of a size advantage for the white-tailed eagle, the golden eagle is reportedly "strongly dominant" over the white-tailed in food conflicts and, perhaps, in direct nesting competition. This is in part because of the swifter, more agile flight of golden eagles, as well as their greater overall aggression towards other raptors and perhaps due to their somewhat longer toes and larger talons, although there is little evidence that the golden and white-tailed eagles are notably different in strength.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In many intraguild diurnal raptor assemblages, a slightly smaller, swifter-flying species often dominate their heavier competitors unless size differences become extreme, to the contrary of owls and several other predators which often adhere fairly strictly to a size-based dominance hierarchy. Golden eagles won all food conflicts over carrion observed by one author over the course of two winters in Norway, with the white-tailed eagles only displacing goldens after the golden eagles had already fed for some time. However, cases of white-tailed eagles winning food conflicts have been reported as well and perhaps more assured mature white-tailed eagles may fare better in such conflicts. Some territorial conflicts in Scotland have escalated, albeit rarely, to both eagle species killing the other. White-tailed eagles are said to be "dominant", however, in population ecology as they can exist at higher population densities and typically outnumber golden eagles because of their longer gut and more efficient digestive system, being able to live better with less food. Notably, in competition in North America, neither the golden or bald eagle are said to be dominant and either species may win conflicts. Furthermore, bald eagles may succeed in procuring up to 25% of fresh golden eagle kills in winter and golden eagles are reported to decidedly avoid active nesting areas of bald eagles.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Beyond golden eagles, white-tailed eagles may live alongside a wide range of other large raptors, but other eagles are considerably different in dietary and habitat preferences, so there is almost no competitive effect. For example, in Kazakhstan, white-tailed eagles were recorded to nest in proximity to golden eagles, eastern imperial eagles ("Aquila heliaca") and steppe eagles ("Aquila nipalensis") and all four eagles appear almost entirely indifferent to the presence of the other species, given their considerable partitioning in diet and habitat preferences. More significantly than the "Aquila" species, the white-tailed eagle seemed to have no issue nesting within a few hundred metres of the other eagles. A more direct effect may be detected on other fish-eating birds, for example recovering numbers of white-tailed eagles in Lithuania was thought to limit local osprey populations. However, in similar habitats, white storks and lesser spotted eagles ("Clanga pomarina") appeared to not be competitively effected. Besides competitive effects, white-tailed eagles may adversely effect ospreys by habitually robbing them of their catches. Besides the poorly studied relations between the Pallas's fish eagle and white-tailed eagle in the southern limits of the latter's Asian distribution, the only other "Haliaeetus" to live broadly alongside white-tailed eagles are Steller's sea eagles. Being larger and heavier, the Steller's is often characterized as a more powerful predator. Nonetheless, studies of the species ecologies show that the Steller's is a more restricted feeder on salmonids and that the Steller's tended to defend a smaller home range area than white-tailed eagles do in the Russian Far East. However, the Steller's appeared to be more flexible in readily switching nest sites between trees and rocky areas, whereas white-tailed eagles of this area exclusively nested in trees. Both species seemed to avoid active territories of the other but little direct conflict during breeding was detected. Although the Steller's sea eagle may be somewhat favored in wintertime food conflicts given its sometimes considerably larger size, both it and the white-tailed eagles have been observed to win conflicts over fish, with golden eagles sometimes entering the fray and sometimes losing or winning conflicts. Given their larger population and farther current range into warmer areas (whereas the modern white-tailed eagle is only common in cold, northern climes), bald eagles (the ecological equivalent of the white-tailed eagle in North America) have a considerably broader prey spectrum than white-tailed eagles that ranges well over 400 species, with more species recorded from nearly all animal taxon. Although about 56% of the bald eagle's diet is comprised by fish, bald eagles often take a higher diversity and numbers of alternate prey such as mammals, reptiles and amphibians than do white-tailed eagles.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Although other birds of prey are seldom caught, given that they are wary, fast and can defend themselves well, the white-tailed eagle can be characterized as an opportunistic predator of such birds. Indicating that they are regarded as a threat to raptors is that they are frequently mobbed by a wide range of raptor species when displaying active flights, to a similar regard that the perhaps more aggressively predatory golden eagle is. Given the difficulty of this prey type, white-tailed eagles are likely to attack other birds of prey when the victims are distracted, whether by migration on windy days, nesting duties or when trying to capture their own prey, are previously injured or they may even capture one while the raptor tries to mob the eagle. Certainly, nestlings and fledglings can certainly comprise a large fraction of the birds of prey caught as well as adult ones. Other accipitrids they are known to have preyed upon, in increasing order of size are the Eurasian sparrowhawk ("Accipiter nisus"), western marsh harrier ("Circus aeruginosus"), black kite ("Milvus migrans"), European honey-buzzard ("Pernis apivorus"), common buzzard ("Buteo buteo"), northern goshawk, red kite ("Milvus milvus"), lesser spotted eagle ("Clanga pomarina") and eastern imperial eagle, in addition to osprey. Non-accipitrid raptorial birds, these more likely restricted to fully independent birds due to their less conspicuous nests, known to fall prey to white-tailed eagles include Eurasian pygmy owl ("Glaucidium passerinum"), boreal owl ("Aegolius funereus"), Eurasian hobby ("Falco subbuteo"), long-eared owl (Asio otus), northern hawk owl ("Surnia ulula"), short-eared owl ("Asio flammeus"), peregrine falcon ("Falco peregrinus"), snowy owl ("Bubo scandiacus") and Eurasian eagle owl ("Bubo bubo"). Accipitrid prey size ranges by body mass ranges from for a sparrowhawk to in the imperial eagle and that of non-accipitrid raptors ranges from for the pygmy owl to for the eagle owl and apparently both imperial eagles and eagle owls that were caught were adults. As true apex predators, healthy adult white-tailed eagles have no known natural predators.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The breeding season is from January to July in the south of the white-tailed eagles range, and from April to September in the northern part of their range. They pair for life, though if one dies replacement can occur quickly. A bond is formed when a permanent home range is chosen. White-tailed eagles frequently engage during early spring variously in soaring, sky-dancing and other aerial displays, all with much loud calling, often performed by pair members together, including spectacular mutual cartwheel downwards where talons touch or interlock. Nuptial displays may occur almost year-around in some parts of the range, increasing after young disperse in autumn, thence at rare intervals until spring when such behavior, of course, peaks. Courtship often begins with a bird, often the male, "sky pointing" or "long calling" by throwing their head back. Soaring by pairs follows, with either partner leading by or soaring opposite directions. One may swoop upon the other who responds by tilting to one side or may roll over to touch talons momentarily before separating. This may be repeated or gain intensity until they are talon-grappling or "mutual cartwheeling", consisting of the pair locking talons mid-air and whirling earthwards in series of spectacular cartwheels. When doing this, the pair may stop only a few feet above the ground.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Talon grappling is usually associated with territorial clashes in most accipitrids, especially between males, but in "Haliaeetus" such behaviour also seems to be related to courtship and is engaged by pairs as well as males attacking intruding males. When locally common, 2–3 pairs can be seen displaying in the sky quite near each other but each pair in fact are within a border of a well-defined territory. In Greenland, recorded pair densities were 0.3–0.6 occupied territories per . In eastern Germany, densities were reported as 1.6–2 pairs per . Norwegian nests appear at no closer than ; territory size on Norwegian coasts were reported as roughly . Fischer noted 8–9 pairs on the small Norwegian island of Fugloy due to its huge seabird colonies, with late summer numbers boosting to 75 eagles, all within an area of only . Five occupied nests were noted on an stretch of the Russian Yenisei River. Mating chiefly occurs between mid-March and mid-April in most parts of the range. The pair may copulate be about once every 20 minutes for several hours. Prior to mating, a more skilled and graceful flying than usual may be undertaken by the male as the final stage of courtship. After his final display, the female crouches low, almost flat, with her head and neck outstretched, wings half open, and tail held level with the rest of the body. Mating has been recorded in white-tailed eagles to occur almost anywhere including a low perch, on the nest, on the ground or even on frozen lake surfaces, usually close to the nest at least but also at as far away from the nest as in Norway. Sometimes both members of the pair will assume the female's typical mating position simultaneously side-by-side until he jumps on her back. Once the male mounts he often calls loudly and flaps both wings to maintain his balance. After about 12 seconds he dismounts and sits quietly, ultimately will do so about 5 to 6 in 1.5 hours and at nearly any time of the day.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: White-tailed eagles most often nest in large trees, with perhaps coniferous trees preferred and nests may be in a high main fork, on the canopy or a large side branch. Access to food is a key consideration in the nest's location in white-tailed eagles. In Germany, 75% of eyries were within of a lake, although one was away from any lake though was somewhat closer to the Baltic Sea. 80% of German nests were described as being in forests but eagles exhibited preferences for wooded islands or promontories and most nests were usually towards edge of open space: a clearing, marshy ground or even agricultural land. Among the few eyries in open land were never more than away from woods. Only one cliff nest was recorded in Germany, on the Baltic island of Rugen. Older records indicated ground nests also recorded in the German Baltic region. Most German nests were at heights from off ground in the main fork of trees, rarely on ample horizontal tree branches.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Tree nest height is partially based on tree species, i.e. in Romania, on black poplars ("Populus nigra") and willows nest height would was recorded at of the ground but one was on a broken tree at only from the ground. There in the lower Danube of Romania beyond the mainly utilized black poplars and willows, one was on "a weak oak sapling", six on high, thick oaks, five in white poplars ("Populus alba"), two in beeches and one in a wild pear tree. Another quote on eyrie height along the Danube was at above the ground. Trees used for nests in Hokkaido were often the tallest in a stand, averaging higher than the average tree height in their stand. Tree species preferred here were "Picea glehnii" and "Alnus japonica". Nest height in Hokkaido was similar to that in Europe at above the ground. In eastern Germany, among 177 nests, 65% were in mature pines, 22% in copper beeches ("Fagus sylvatica"), 8% in oak with the remainder in alder, elm, poplar and birch. The German eyries ranged in height from , averaging , usually in tallest trees available. Nests can be on crags, whether or not trees may be available, depending on regional habitat. In 98 Norwegian eyries, only eight were in trees, the rest were on cliffs. In comparison, against the 86% nests that were on cliffs in Norway, 79% known in Scotland were too, 77% in Iceland and all known Greenlandic nests were in cliffs or other rocky spots. Nest height on cliffs can be over above the nearest flat ground. Rarely, they may nest on the ground or a low hummock, as well as smaller trees, low bushes, on sand banks or among reed beds. Showing their adaptability, one pair even nested on a buoy on a Norwegian shipping route.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Nests are usually huge, constructed of sticks and branches, averaging roughly across and up to deep, but can be several metres in width & depth, lined variously with moss, greenery, seaweed or wool. The nest must have easy access for the eagles with a clear view of the surrounding environment, shelter from the elements and protection from nest predators. In forest of Finland, it has been estimated that perhaps only one in a thousand trees will prove attractive to white-tailed eagles. Cliff nests often include lesser materials, some may be only a scooped shallow depression of soil, or pile of heather or juniper stems with stipes of dried "Laminaria", but also sticks up to and several cm thick may be incorporated; almost any material available may line the nests such as seaweed, driftwood, even glass or metal floats and, in one to two cases, the dried skeleton a sheep. In tree nests, the average nest diameter is about , with nests in trees tending to be larger, more rigid and stronger. A relatively new four-year-old nest weighed and one about twice that age can exceed in mass. Some tree nests may range easily up to in diameter and deep after many repairs over years, with extreme sizes of perhaps another metre in diameter and depth, or "twice the height of a man". Tree nests may be lined with lichen, moss, seaweed, ferns, grass, woodrush, heather or "Empetrum"; many tree nests may be lined with sheep's wool.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The male of the pair more often brings nesting branches, while the female takes the primary role in construction. A nest may be added to by the resident pair at as early as December onwards, but usually do so starting in March at high latitudes. A new nest may take several months to construct, but if an old nest is lost in late winter, pairs have been known to build a new nest faster than average in less than a month, however egg laying may be inhibited in such cases. Repair to an existing nest can take about 18 days. White-tailed eagles have also used nests built by other species: black kite, common buzzard, common raven ("Corvus corax") and, subsequent to the eagles evicting them, ospreys and red kites. Eastern imperial eagles, saker ("Falco cherrug") and peregrine falcons have used old white-tailed eagles nests, in the two swift falcon species they've been recorded in evicting pairs of white-tailed eagles from their eyries with persistent dive-bombing. In one case, after having been displaced by humans from an eyrie that had seen 30 years of white-tailed eagle use, an eagle pair returned to find the nest occupied by peregrine falcons. Despite many dogfights, the eagles constructed a nest higher up in the same tree. Although fighting continued, both species succeeded in raising one fledgling each. In Norway, pairs of ravens, peregrines and white-tailed eagles have been known to successfully nest on the same cliff face. Many small species of bird may nest in the immediate area of white-tailed eagle eyries, presumably due to incidental protection: Eurasian tree sparrow ("Passer montanus"), white wagtail ("Motacilla alba"), Eurasian treecreepers ("Certhia familiaris"), common redstarts ("Phoenicurus phoenicurus"), European crested tits ("Lophophanes cristatus"), Eurasian starlings and stock doves ("Columba oenas"). Like in the golden eagle, pairs of white-tailed eagles often build multiple nests on their home range over time and use them randomly over different years (sometimes using one for several consecutive years or changing nests every year over several years). The species may build from 1 to 11 nests, averaging 2.5 in Norway with pairs with up to five nests being not uncommon in that country.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Individual white-tailed eagles tend to be remarkably consistent on egg-laying times from year to year, seemingly regardless of surrounding weather conditions. Egg laying does vary of course by latitude. Historic breeders from Israel and Iran (where they still usually breed) were reported to lay eggs in January, while in Greece and the lower Volga river it is during February, in Germany mostly during March and in the subarctic of Lapland, Finland and northern Russia, to as late as late April to early May. White-tailed eagles in Scotland seem to have average egg laying about three weeks later, late March to early April, than those in coastal Norway. Even near Arctic in Finland, eggs were found as early as 5 March despite ranging often to as late as May. Younger pairs may nest later on average than older ones. In white-tailed eagles, many (perhaps a majority) of clutches consist of two eggs, especially in Irish and Scottish nests, with three egg clutches being considered uncommon to rare there. Four egg clutches have been recorded on the Isle of Skye, as well as in at least Poland, Romania and Norway. Clutch size in Scotland averages 1.56, while in Norway it is 2.16. The eggs are a broad oval shape and dull white in colour, sometimes with a glossy sheen and are usually unmarked but for occasional yellowish stain. Fresh egg weigh from , with an average of approximately for the first egg and for the second. If replacement clutch is laid, usually a single egg is laid which may weigh as little as .


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Average egg dimension seem to keep in accordance with the female body size, smallest mean size known were from Turkey where the average dimensions were to the largest in three surveys from Greenland, where they were . In 54 eggs from Scotland they ranged from , averaging , in height by , averaging , in width. In comparison, 90 eggs from mainland Europe ranged from , averaging , by , averaging . Eggs may be compromised quickly by frost and snow in relatively early clutches. Incubation starts as soon as the first egg is laid. In the species, a 2–3 day interval between the first and second egg being laid (as well as hatching) is recorded. The female does up to 80–90% of incubation and all known nighttime incubating. However, in Norway, the male of a pair could contribute up to about 27% of incubation to daylight hours. There may be as many as 11 changes of the incubating individual within a day. The longest period recorded the clutch was unguarded was 20 minutes, although one pair perched nearby the nest without incubating for 48 minutes. The clutches in Norway left alone only 2–4% of the time. In some cases female may do all the incubation alone, however. When the female is off the nest, she sometimes kills prey and returns with a full crop, but prey capture during incubation is often up to the male. Late into incubation, shift changes decreases and the female will sit tight and will crouch down at the approach of a human rather than leave the nest. Calling and displaying are reduced during incubation, but occasionally both may leave the clutch and display still. The time range for incubation can vary from 34 to 46 days, but usually are between 38 and 42 days. A calculated mean time range for incubation of 38.3 days.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In 1983, it was listed that brood size is one 56.5% of the time and two 40.8% of the time in eight studies from different parts of the range; only 2.5% of these studies had a brood size of three and only one from Norway was a brood size of four recorded. From 14 studies, the mean number of chicks in a brood may range from 1.1 in western Germany to 1.9 in southern Kazakhstan, with average overall brood size of 1.52. However, these datasets may be skewered lower than natural brood size as a majority these are from the mid to late 20th century when pesticide use considerably lowered the mean number of hatchlings in many parts of the range. New hatchlings will weigh about but in Hokkaido new hatchlings were surprisingly notably heavier at . The sex of nestlings can be identified using field methods, or using DNA. Initially, the hatchlings have a creamy white down which is longest and whitest on the head and often dirty grayish on wings and rump. Before they start walking about the nest, their underside may have several bare patches.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The nestlings first become audible at around 2–3 days and have become active enough to move around the nest and excrete over the nest edge by 10 days old. The initial down is replaced by a thick woolly coat of longer, coarser grayish down, which is usually darker on the crown, underparts and flanks. The legs and cere at this young nestling age can range from pinkish to pale yellow. By about 30 days the first feathers poke through the down. The eaglets can feed themselves starting at 35–40 days. At six weeks (40 days) they are more firm on their feet and between this and the following week feathers take over the down, with patches of down remaining but usually gone by the seventh week. Wing flapping begins only when the wings are partially feathered at 42 days. Around seven weeks of age, the eaglet is more alert and stronger and frequently manipulates sticks and walks more so. At eight weeks, only the long feathers of the wing and tail have yet to develop fully and eaglets tend to start exploring the surrounding branches. The eaglets will attempt their first flight at about 70 days and will usually be flying well by about 90 days of age. Fledgling occurs around mid- to late July in Norway, and about 3–4 weeks later in Russian White Sea.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The female of the white-tailed eagle pair seems to do all the brooding early on and will be especially reluctant to leave the nest as well. Thereafter, at 14 to 28 days, brooding behaviour by the female gradually declines. The male may start to brood occasionally around this time period but will not do so at night. Females may sit on the nest or shelter the fledglings from rain even 28 days after fledging but usually such behavior is much reduced. Chicks may be fed as many as 11 times in 24 hours by the female who usually dismantles prey brought by the male. To 28 days, male continues to do most of the prey capture but thereafter female does much of it and both parents begin to leave kills on the nest for the eaglets to consume. As the chicks grow older, favored food often switches from fish to birds to meet their increasing food requirements as well as prey behavior as waterfowl may be flightless during eclipse. Caches are often depleted quickly late into nestling development. At start of fledgling, 4–5 carcasses may be brought in a week but by the end of fledgling, only one or two are usually brought, probably to encourage the young to start their own prey captures. After leaving the nest, the young usually stay nearby for another 35–40 days and may still be largely fed by their parents but gradually learn to take their own prey. In continental Europe, the young eagles are gone from the nest as early as the beginning of July to about 10 August and fully independent by late August. In this late summer stage, they may learn quickly to feed on stranded fish or to capture ducks flightless in eclipse. Juvenile eagles may remain for a long time on their parents range and apparently are not resented or repelled even to the ages of 1–3 years. However, usually by their first winter they will have congregated with other unrelated juveniles. Communal juvenile roosts in Norway can maintain 30–40 white-tailed eagles usually in trees or steep slopes of offshore islands. Sexual maturity is reached at 5–6 years of age.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Normally, white-tailed eagles succeed in raising one or two young from a clutch of two, and two from a clutch of three. The average breeding success seems to be about 1.1–1.6 young per annum (i.e. 45–48 young from 40 observed cases, with 16 failures) (1.6 young per pair in 93 recorded Norwegian nests). About 33% of nesting attempts will fail to produce any young, and this is sometimes as many as 75% (at times of heavy persecution or pesticide use). Beyond manmade threats to white-tailed eagle nestlings, starvation and nest collapse are considerable causes of nestling deaths. Natural threats in the nest may also include siblicide (or "cainism") wherein the largest nestling behave aggressively and gradually kill their smaller sibling, which is often consumed. Despite claims to contrary, siblicide in white-tailed eagle does occur with some regularity in some parts of the range, from Germany to Hokkaido although is certainly less frequent than in some eagle species, including the golden eagle. Single cases were reported in the White Sea and Iceland, and it may occur situationally as in many birds of prey when prey populations are low or prey capture is inhibited by poor weather. Siblicide can be avoided in white-tailed eagles with manipulative techniques, which may include taking out and hand-rearing the runt, put a chick into a nest with slightly younger brood which it is about the same size as, or taking the first egg out and putting it back in later so it develops evenly with its younger sibling. Surplus chicks are sometimes removed from nests to use in reintroduction programs in areas where the species has died out. If left in the nest, they often die sooner or later, as with most large eagles. In such programs the birds are raised in boxes on platforms in the tree canopy and fed in such a way that they cannot see the human supplying their food, until they are old enough to fly and thus find their own food.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Known natural predators of white-tailed eagle eggs and nestlings include red foxes, martens and bears, especially if nesting in overly accessible rock formations, while wild boars have been recorded eating eggs and nestlings that’ve fallen out of the nest too early. Avian predation, overall a seemingly rare occurrence, of white-tailed eagle eggs and nestlings have been reported as crows, common ravens and western marsh harriers, which are likely to succeed in cases where nest attendance is low or if successful in driving away the parents via fierce mobbing. Furthermore, Eurasian eagle owls have been reported to prey upon "fairly large" nestlings of white-tailed eagle in nighttime ambushes. Many juveniles do not survive their first year post-independence. In the 1970s, an average of 56% banded first-year white-tailed eagles in Norway, Sweden and Greenland were found dead, most often having been shot. In eastern Germany, of 194 white-tailed eagles found dead between 1946 and 1972, of those where cause of death could be determined, 39% had been shot, accidents (especially powerlines) accounted for 6%, territorial disputes 7.5% and conservatively 13% were from poisoning. It is estimated that the survival of those that reach adulthood at 70%. Another estimate of average lifespan for those who reach adulthood is just over 12 years. Widely reported individuals have been found to live for 25 years or more, Another estimate of mean lifespan (presumably without persecution) is 21 years. At one point, the oldest banded white-tailed eagle known in the wild known lived for 27 years. However, a wild eagle of the species was subsequently recorded to life for 33.1 years. White-tailed eagles in captivity have lived for more than 40 years, though their exactly captive longevity record is not known. A male white-tailed eagle that was ringed as a chick on the Isle of Skye in 1994, was recorded on the Isle of Mull in early 2022 at the advanced age of 28 years old. His mate, a female white-tailed eagle that hatched in 1992 on Mull, will now be 30 years old although her identity has not been confirmed.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The white-tailed eagle formerly bred over much wider area, extending west to much of western Europe and perhaps south almost continuously in that region to the Mediterranean. From the 19th century, the species underwent a huge, well-documented decline. Ultimately the white-tailed eagle was almost extinct in Europe, extirpated from all but Fennoscandia (mainly remaining in Norway) and some sparse patches of eastern Europe. They were extinct in the entire British Isles by the early 1900s. At one time, the white-tailed eagle bred down to Egypt in Africa, particularly around Lake Manzala with individuals wandering rarely to Algeria and Tunisia. It is likely that habitat degradation and drying conditions caused the extirpation of the species as all but a vagrant in Egypt. Two pairs that nested in the Jordan Valley ceased to breed, apparently due to agricultural chemicals, in the early 1950s. The species also once bred in northern Syria but is not found reliably there even in winter in modern times.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In Britain, the opinion towards white-tailed eagles became negative in sync with the creation of farmland and commercial fishing, as it was quickly perceived that they were competitors for resources and could deplete the livelihood of flocks for shepherds (despite this being largely untrue) and game animals for gamekeepers. Therefore, laws were passed to facilitate their destruction. Already by the end of the 18th century, down from breeding in all appropriate habitat, the English population was down to only localized breeding, namely in the Isle of Wight, Lundy, Isle of Man and (probably) near Plymouth; within a couple of decades the species only remained in the Lake District. Before the advent of firearms, few people in England and Scotland were highly motivated to kill eagles since this could be time-consuming and hazardous process, therefore the British government rose the bounty on eagles to a very high 5 shillings a head by the turn of the 18th century. Unfortunately, eyries in many coastal sites were found to be easily accessible so that destroying or selling eggs was common. Subsequent to systematic persecution, in Greenland 62% of eyries found to be "easily accessible" and only 13% foiled all attempts to reach them. Similar findings were found in sea cliff nests in Iceland, Norway and Scotland.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: White-tailed eagles are more vulnerable to direct persecution than golden eagles since most nests are highly accessible for white-tailed eagle but not for golden eagles which usually nest in mountainous, precipitously rocky terrain, in contrast to sea cliff nests of which 67–87% were found to be accessible. Before firearms were widely available in Scotland and Norway automatic traps were utilized wherein carrion was laid out to entice an eagle with a person hiding in a near subterranean trap waited until the eagle was distracted, at that point grabbing the eagle by the leg. Petrified by the darkness once dragged below, white-tailed eagles apparently offer no resistance once caught. However, habitat had to be favorable and even when conditions were correct, success at capture as such was low. The main driver of declines before firearms and industrialized poisons was habitat alterations. After about the 1840s, firearms became available and declines accelerated considerably, by 1916 the last nesting pair in all of Britain attempted to raise a brood on the isle of Skye. While other ecological factors have been considered in this decline, stringent research has shown the extirpation here was fully correlated to intentional, rapacious predation by man. Many gamekeepers poisoned and shot eagles and destroyed nearly any nest they encountered. A few more enlightened landowners forbade the killing of eagles but there's evidence that the gamekeepers sometimes chose to destroy eagles regardless of the rule of law. On deer forest, eagles were tolerated later than in other British areas, but destructions accelerated there by the late 1800s. Also many white-tailed eagles were poisoned by shepherds who considered it enemy of the flock. Elsewhere in Europe, persecution rates in the 19th and 20th century were just as drastic. In Romania, more than 400 white-tailed eagles were killed in two decades by a single hunter. In Norway between 1959 and 1968, an average of 169 eagles were killed annually; with a maximum of 221 in 1961. Around the year 1860, an author estimated that about 400 were being killed annually throughout Germany. Between 1946 and 1972 in eastern Germany, a total of 194 dead white-tailed eagles were found, about half of them shot, after governmental protection of the species had been instituted there.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Top predators, especially those that are aquatic and coastal, are almost immediately vulnerable upon exposure to DDT. Therefore, white-tailed eagles are highly susceptible to this pesticide, as are similar fish eaters, such as otters, and bird eaters, such as peregrine falcons. Distributed by man nearly across the developed world as an insecticide in the 1950s, by the early 1970s, authors found many species of bird experienced reduced egg shell thickness. Thus the incubating parents inadvertently crushed their normally hardy eggs and, in turn, many water birds and raptors had their nesting success dropped precipitously. In fact, the species was found to have the highest concentration of DDT of any European raptor. Egg shell thickness was found down from prior to 1935 from 1969 to 1975 down to only , a 16% reduction. In Sweden, coastal birds were considerably more effected by DDT than the inland birds of Lapland, Sweden. In eastern Germany, where pesticide use was heavy, only 1 out of 28 nesting attempts were known to succeed in 1976. Overall, about 75% nesting attempts failed in western Germany, Finland and the Swedish Baltic area. Other environmental pollutants affecting the species include heavy metals which affect individuals through bioaccumulation. The amount of white-tailed eagles killed by mercury poisoning rose from 6.4% during 1946–1957 to 24.6% in 1958–1965 in Germany. It was estimated that pesticides and metal contaminations reduced the white-tailed eagle population in Hungary from 1957 to 1967 by about 50–60%. Lead poisoning, caused by lead bullets left in carcasses that the white-tailed eagles will eat in winter, is also another issue faced by the species. Fatal and near fatal levels of lead exposure continues to be a major issue in the 21st century in many parts of the range, at least from Poland to Hokkaido. Despite regulations on their usage, lead and mercury poisonings were found to be the cause of death of 61 white-tailed eagles found in Germany from 1993 to 2000.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In order to offset the numerous chemical and metal based poisoning that humans were inadvertently exposing the species to, a widespread operation was undertaken to feed white-tailed eagles uncontaminated foods in Sweden. Here, carcasses from slaughterhouses placed in areas free of human disturbance, usually fields, bogs, marshes or frozen lakes, from October to March (after these months, the eagles will ignore carrion in favor of capture of live prey). Apparently, breeding success improved from 29% to 44% when the program began. In southern Sweden subsequent to the feedings, 5 of 11 breeding pairs were successful and two previously unoccupied territories were taken over by new pairs, thus winter feeding was seemingly highly beneficial to local eagles. Similar winter feeding stations set up in Finland from 1972 to 1978. In Sweden, brood size has varied from 1.3 per nest prior to 1950, down to 0.3 in 1965–1985. Now the brood sizes have increased, at somewhat less than one brood size on average, but still somewhat less productivity than historical numbers.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In several parts of the European range, especially southern Scandinavia and central Europe, protections have allowed white-tailed eagles to recolonize former parts of their range. Since recolonizing Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in 1947, numbers have increased slowly; from 1975–2008, increases were recorded at 6.7% in population per annum and enjoyed much higher productivity. Perhaps particularly key has been conserving white-tailed eagle habitats. In the 1970s, 75% of the potential and current white-tailed eagle territories became protected in Schleswig-Holstein. In Poland, 78% of forests are state owned and clusters of 10 or more trees are preserved around each white-tailed eagle eyrie. The Swedish Forest Service limits logging activities to within of a nest tree which expands to within during breeding season; however this acts not as a law but only as an advisory where the eyries are located on private land. Limits on recreational activity were established as these can disturb white-tailed eagle nests especially in well-trodden countries such as Germany and Sweden, but even in the remote Russian Kandalaksha. In northern Finland, artificial eyries were constructed for their use. Out of 19, 14 were visited by white-tailed eagle, eggs laid in at least nine, and two ultimately fledged young. Regulations have been established on direct use of pesticides that harm white-tailed eagles such as DDT, however because of political variances, despite widespread monitoring, not at all areas are strictly protected. Similarly, regulations on lead usage in hunting has been inconsistent in comparison with the stronger efforts to ban lead bullet fragments in North America. The residuals of mercury from various fungicides (now banned), air particles and pollution run-off water have caused huge concentrations in fish of many different areas, which continues to effect humans as well as entire ecosystems of wildlife. Unfortunately, methylmercury is still difficult to manage in Europe as it is elsewhere.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The first attempts at reintroduction in Scotland were in 1959 in Glen Etive, Argyll abortively, followed by a better informed but also ultimately unsuccessful attempt on Fair Isle in 1968. Successful reintroduction into Scotland did not occur until the 1970s, with the isle of Rùm in the inner Hebrides being chosen because of its large size () with access to the Isle of Skye (where last native pair known in Britain last bred in 1916) and it is only from the mainland. Also Rùm hosts large seabird colonies that make for viable prey, including eider ("Somateria mollissima"), shag ("Phalacrocorax aristotelis"), auks and gulls; as well as one of the few in Britain of manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus"). Furthermore, mainly as a source of carrion, were a population of around 1500 red deer and 200 feral goats; otters and gulls were also numerous and available to kleptoparasitize. The birds to be used for reintroduction were gathered as nestlings from western Norway, as this is the nearest native breeding population. The young eagles were either kept in high grade fowl cages or tethered all within reach of an artificial eyrie, cover and feeding stations. Direct human contact, which the naturally wild young eagles tended to shun anyway, is minimal short of veterinary care. Releases were carried by taking bird out tethered, wearing a leather hood to prevent imprinting and then releasing with a radio-monitor. Most of the eagles, despite no direct parenting, turned out to be competent hunters within a couple of weeks or do well at stealing meals, including from other released eagles. Despite some dying before release due to illness and some found dead subsequent to release, most survived. A total of 95 birds were received for the Rùm reintroductions and 82 were successfully released between 1975 and 1987. The white-tailed eagle now breeds throughout the Western Isles and the mainland coast of Wester Ross. However, a low reproductive output of reintroduced Scottish eagles was recorded in 1996, and it was advocated that additional releases were needed. In August 2008, an additional fifteen chicks raised in Norway were released at a secret location in Fife, in expectation of reintroducing the species to the east coast of Scotland as well. Breeding success of reintroduced birds in Scotland (from 1975–1985 & 1993–1998) is moderate compared overall in species, in 1982–1992: productivity was 0.38, with a mean fledgling number 1.61. In comparison, for the years 1993 to 2000, productivity was 0.61 and fledgling number was 1.48, while in 2000–2007, productivity was 0.7 and mean fledgling number 1.44. Overall in Britain, there are estimated 36 breeding pairs in 2006 and 40 in 2008. Juvenile survival rates are somewhat low overall compared to other areas. Reintroduction efforts succeeded in the Bohemia area of the Czech Republic as well, where the biologists similarly followed the guidelines of guarding of occupied eyries and provision of safe foods.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: The white-tailed eagle is also being reintroduced to Ireland, where its Irish name of Iolar Mara (sea eagle) reflects its historic association with the island's long coast. The Irish program was begun in the summer of 2007. Fifteen to twenty young eagles from Norway are being released each spring into the Killarney National Park in the south-west of Ireland. This comprehensive project will last a number of years, with many more eagles being released. The species has a rich history on the island but became extinct in Ireland in the 1900s due to persecution from landowners. The last pair bred on the coast of Mayo in 1912. In 2007, a hundred local sheep farmers gathered at Kerry airport to protest the eagles' arrival. Irish Farming Association Hill Committee chairman Mr O'Leary said he had no doubt the eagles would take lambs. Since their reintroduction seven eagles have been confirmed poisoned in County Kerry, two suspected of having been poisoned, and one shot. A 13th eagle released in Kerry was shot in Northern Ireland. Twenty more eagles were due for release in 2010. However, Dr Allan Mee, in charge of the sea eagle project, stated "the continuing loss of eagles to poisoning had cast a shadow over the future of the ambitious programme." The first white-tailed eagle breeding pair since 1912 nested one hundred years later on Lough Derg (Loch Deirgeirt), marking a great success for the Irish reintroduction programme. In early May 2013, the first eaglets were born in Ireland since the re-introduction programme began; one in the Killarney National Park and two in County Clare. In Spring 2015, five nests hatched chicks in four counties in Ireland – Clare, Cork, Galway and Kerry.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In 2019, a reintroduction project on the Isle of Wight was approved by the British government. It is hoped that establishing a breeding population in the coastal county will lead to the species re-colonising the South Coast. Following the release of six juveniles on the island in 2019, individuals were sighted across Southern England, and one of the six, a male named Culver (after Culver Down, a local landmark on the Isle of Wight near the town of Sandown) embarked on a tour of South-East England shortly after being released, and was sighted over Central London after ranging through Hampshire, East Sussex and Surrey, continuing through Essex, Kent and West Sussex.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In May 2021, the group leading the Isle of Wight reintroduction project, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, were given permission by Natural England to start a second reintroduction project, this time in Norfolk, thus reintroducing the white-tailed eagle to East Anglia. Up to 60 birds are to be released over a span of 10 years at Wild Ken Hill in West Norfolk.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Densities of white-tailed eagles have greatly increased in some parts of the range due to conservation efforts. Some threats still remain, notably illegal persecution by gamebird shooting and egg thieves in Scotland. In prime habitat in north Europe, distance between breeding pairs can be only (even as little as locally) such as in Norway, density at one Polish forest were even reported at 6–7 in each square kilometer. In the late 1990s, it was estimated that Russia held as many as 5,000 to 7,000 pairs, with around 175 pairs in Greenland and almost 3,500 pairs in Europe, led by Norway (1,500+ pairs), European Russia (900–1,100), Poland (180–240), Germany (140–150) and Sweden (100–150). The largest population in Europe is found along the coast of Norway. The Norwegian population in 2008 was claimed to have stood at 9,000–11,000 pairs, much larger than prior estimates, and indeed this may refer to the total number of individuals rather than total breeding pairs. Even in the early 1980s, Norway maintained a population greater than all other European white-tailed eagle populations combined. In isolation, Turkey holds merely 10–30 pairs. Over 500 winter in Japan, mainly Hokkaido, but this island may have only 20 pairs breeding. Strong increases were recorded in Croatia, with no less than 135 breeding pairs estimated in Croatia by 2009, up from only 25–30 in 2007.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Beyond the threat of chemical poisonings, a new threat from wind turbines is emerging with significant mortality (considerably in excess of the area's population productivity) occurring at the Smøla Wind Farm in Norway. From 2005 to 2010, 36 birds were killed by wind farm on the isle of Smøla, including four of the 45 recent radio-tagged fledglings. Breeding attempts within of the wind farm were considerably reduced in success. The white-tailed eagles of the region seem to have no behavioral avoidance capabilities, as in many raptors, since the blades are not visible at close range. In a recovering population in north-east Germany, a trade-off between the distance to neighbouring breeding pairs and to the nearest water body (the birds' favoured foraging habitat) was found. This indicates that pairs may be increasingly selecting suboptimal habitats to reduce competition as the population increases, and has implications in the management of such populations.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: White-tailed eagles have apparently re-established themselves as a native breeding species in numerous countries: Austria (now breeding in extreme northwestern portions), Denmark (where broadly re-established as breeders), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (scattered pairs in both now with reintroductions factoring in the Czech Republic), Hungary, and Bulgaria. In Denmark (excluding Greenland where the species never was extirpated as a breeder and there are 150–200 pairs in the south), the breeding population increased from none in 1995 to at least 37 pairs by 2011. In 2021, there were more than 150 breeding pairs in Denmark, far surpassing the initial goals of the species' recovery program in the country. From 1996 when the first pair bred to 2021, altogether more than 1,350 young have fledged. In Hungary, re-establishment (starting from none in the 1970s) has also been a success, where 114 out of 166 breeding pairs by 2007 were successful producing altogether 182 fledged young. Wintering Hungarian population may now reach about a thousand eagles. In Lithuania, back in 1985 no pairs were known to have bred but established pairs numbered 90 by 2007 and swelled to 120 by 2011. On 22 May 2006, it was announced that a pair of white-tailed eagles breeding in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in the Netherlands had arrived on their own, not as a reintroduction. This was the first time the bird has bred in the Netherlands in living memory. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 the eagles returned to their nest. The Dutch national forestry, which owns the reserve, installed a webcam trained on the nesting eagles. In 2010, it turned out that the white-tailed eagle was also breeding in the Zwarte Meer nature district and in the Lauwersmeer area. There is also a confirmed case of breeding white-tailed eagles in the Biesbosch. Currently (2017), there are around ten pairs breeding spread over Dutch country.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: Studies of microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA in white-tailed eagles from north-central Europe have shown that the recovering European population has retained appreciable amounts of genetic diversity, implying low risk of inbreeding depression (a serious concern in species with low population density). Therefore, recovery of this formerly endangered species is a true success story for nature conservation. The story also shows how local protection of a species can be successful and important for preserving the species' evolutionary potential. As of 2013, the IUCN estimated the total population of mature breeding white-tailed eagles at 20,000–49,999 individuals.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: White-tailed eagle are prominent in ancient Saxon folklore and artwork with many landmarks named after the species.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: It is believed to be the White eagle shown in the German Coat of arms, Polish coat of arms and in the Serbian coat of arms. The sea eagle is often blazoned grasping a fish (usually a pike) in its talons, distinguishing it from an ordinary eagle.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: On Orkney, Scotland, sea eagle bones have been found in 6,000-year-old burial mounds, among them the Tomb of the Eagles, suggesting that the birds were revered by the prehistoric people there, a belief strengthened by the Pictish stone carvings of sea eagles from Orkney. Cut marks have been found in white-tailed eagle talons in Krapina, suggesting Neanderthals' use of jewellery.


title: White-tailed eagle

text: In the Shetland Isles, Scotland, fishermen believed that as soon as a sea eagle appeared fish would rise to the surface, belly up; this led to some fishermen using eagle fat, smeared on their bait, to increase their catch.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2002–03 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. The Spurs defeated the Nets to win the series 4–2. Spurs' forward Tim Duncan was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series. The series was broadcast on U.S. television on ABC, with Brad Nessler, Bill Walton, and Tom Tolbert announcing.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The 2003 Finals documentary was narrated by Rodd Houston, who later narrated three other NBA Finals series.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The 2002–03 season had already started as a memorable one for the San Antonio Spurs, as it was the team's first season in their new arena, the SBC Center. However, as this season was one of beginnings, it was also one of endings. During the season, Spurs star David Robinson announced that it was his last season. The NBA Finals also marked the end of Steve Kerr's career as well—he was on the Spurs, having already won three titles with the Chicago Bulls.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Over the last few seasons, injuries had slowed down Robinson's productivity to the point where he missed 18 games in his final season while averaging only 8.5 points per game. Nevertheless, Robinson retired holding Spurs' franchise records in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. The Spurs had a very successful season, finishing 60–22, tying for the best record in the NBA that year.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The playoffs started off shaky for the Spurs as they lost game 1 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns in overtime. However, the Spurs bounced back to take the series in 6 games. The second round put the Spurs face-to-face with the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. After splitting the first four games, the Spurs eked out a win in game 5, benefitting from a rare last-second in-and-out miss from the Lakers' clutch-shooter Robert Horry (who helped the Spurs win a title two years later). The Spurs eventually disposed of the Lakers in game 6, ending the Lakers' championship run. In the Conference Finals, the Spurs faced their in-state nemesis, the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs started off slow again, losing game 1 by three points, but took control of the series from there, taking the next three straight. After losing game 5 at home 103–91, the Spurs came from 15 points down in the fourth quarter in game 6, as Steve Kerr buried four 3-pointers in a row to take the series in six games with a 90–78 win in Dallas, advancing to their second NBA Finals in franchise history.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: In the meantime the New Jersey Nets, who lost to the Lakers in the finals the previous year, were out to prove that they were serious title contenders, despite the lack of competition in the Eastern Conference. The Nets finished the regular season 49–33, good enough to win the Atlantic Division and clinch the number 2 seed in the East. After splitting the first four games with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, the Nets took control, winning the series in 6 games. From then on, the Nets had no trouble making a return to the NBA Finals, sweeping the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons to win their second straight Eastern Conference championship. With their 49–33 record, the 2003 Nets remain the last team with under 50 wins to reach the NBA Finals.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals in 1985. So far, the other playoff series are still running on a 2–2–1–1–1 site format.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: This was the last Finals' series to be played on a Wednesday–Friday–Sunday rotation, which was used starting in 1991 when NBC began carrying the NBA. Starting with the 2004 NBA Finals, all games were played on Thursday–Sunday–Tuesday format until 2016, when it was changed to allow for two days off each time teams traveled.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: While the series received the usual hype of any Finals, it was not heavily anticipated due to the absence of the Lakers, who had won the previous three finals. The Spurs did have a star in Tim Duncan, but at the time he was criticized as being boring compared to flashier players such as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The series largely centered on the half-court offense and defense of each team, with only one team breaking 100 points in the series. The Nets constantly double-teamed Duncan, often allowing him to find open teammates.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Nets point guard Jason Kidd, second to Duncan in MVP voting during the 2003 season, was in the last year of his contract with the team, leading to speculation that the Spurs, a team that could afford to sign him, would pursue him in the free agency following the 2003 Finals despite already having future All-Star Tony Parker on the roster. The underlying story of whether or not Kidd would be in a Spurs uniform the following season continued into the off-season. Kidd visited San Antonio and spoke with team officials, but ultimately re-signed with the Nets.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Perhaps the lasting memory of the series is David Robinson retiring as a champion. In the clinching game 6, Robinson had 13 points and 17 rebounds to complement Duncan on the inside. In that game, the Spurs trailed at one point 72–63 before going on a 19–0 run to put the game away and take the series. Stephen Jackson's three-pointer during the run held the lead permanently. The Spurs' win denied New Jersey from having both NBA and NHL titles in the same year.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Duncan became the 8th player in NBA history to win the Finals MVP award a second time. He joined the list of Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal. In the series-clinching game, Duncan came two blocks shy of a quadruple double in an NBA Finals game, an extremely rare feat, finishing with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks. Robinson recorded the last quadruple double in NBA history with the Spurs. Duncan and Robinson grabbed 37 rebounds between them, more than the total rebounds of the entire Nets team combined (35).


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Steve Kerr joined Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper and Robert Horry as the only players to win at least two championships with two franchises. Kerr won three with the Chicago Bulls (1996–98) and another with the Spurs in 1999. Robert Horry won two with the Houston Rockets (1994–95) and three with the LA Lakers (2000–02), and later went on to win two more with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The Nets had an inconsistent start to the 2003–04 NBA season, and with a 22–20 record early in the season they fired head coach Byron Scott. Lawrence Frank took over and led the Nets to another Atlantic Division title by winning 47 games, highlighted by a 13–0 start, the best start for a rookie head coach in sports history. Despite that, however, the Nets lost to the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons in seven games of the conference semifinals. , the 2003 Finals remain the Nets' most recent Finals appearance and is their last in New Jersey. The franchise moved to Brooklyn, New York prior to the 2012–13 season. The Nets have also not made the Conference Finals since 2003, having lost five times in the Semifinals, with the last being in 2021.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Jason Kidd remained with the Nets until he was traded in February 2008 to the team he was originally drafted to, the Dallas Mavericks. Kidd, along with teammate Dirk Nowitzki, led the Mavericks to the NBA title in 2011. Kenyon Martin was sent to the Denver Nuggets after the 2003–04 season, while Richard Jefferson eventually joined the Spurs in the 2009–10 season, after a brief one-year stint with the Milwaukee Bucks. He later won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: Despite the departures of Robinson, Jackson and Kerr, the Spurs still managed to win 57 games, aided by Tim Duncan's strong play. However, they were ousted in six games by the Los Angeles Lakers, highlighted by Derek Fisher's game winner with 0.4 seconds left in game 5 of the conference semifinals. In the years following Robinson's retirement, Duncan led the Spurs to three more NBA titles in 2005, 2007 and 2014.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: The 2003 NBA Finals was the first to be aired on ABC, taking over after a 12-year run on NBC. As part of ESPN’s new media deal with the NBA, ABC’s telecasts were produced by ESPN. Until 2007, it was the lowest rated finals in NBA history.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: This was also the only year that ABC broadcast both the NBA and the Stanley Cup Finals that involved teams playing in the same arena during each series. During ABC's broadcast of game 3, Brad Nessler stated that ABC was in a unique situation getting ready for both that game and game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim the following night. Gary Thorne, ESPN/ABC’s lead NHL voice, mentioned this the following night and thanked Nessler for promoting ABC's broadcast of game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.


title: 2003 NBA Finals

text: This was the only NBA Finals worked by Nessler and Tolbert, while this was Walton's last Finals assignment. All three were demoted from ABC's lead role after the Finals. Though Nessler remained the lead voice for ESPN's NBA broadcasts for another season, his position at ABC was relegated to a backup role after the network convinced Al Michaels of "Monday Night Football" fame to take over the lead position. Michaels was later joined by recently deposed Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers on ABC's lead team.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The 2022–23 NHL season is the 106th season of operation (105th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on October 7, 2022, when the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators played the first of two games in Prague, Czech Republic as a part of the 2022 NHL Global Series.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: In addition to sponsor logos on helmets ("helmet entitlement partner"), teams will now be allowed to also sell another sponsor placement on their players' jerseys ("jersey patch partner") this season. The jersey sponsor patches must be no greater than .


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: After previous trials during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and 2020 NHL All-Star Game, the NHL will deploy Supponor technology at all arenas this season. This will allow the digital replacement and insertion of advertising on the rink boards on selected camera angles, which can be localized for individual regional, national, and international broadcasters. These advertising units will include logo placements similar to the boards seen in person (which will still be shown on camera angles that do not support ad replacement), and larger "zone"-based units across sections of the boards, or the entire board.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The 2022 NHL Entry Draft was held on July 7–8, 2022, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the home of the Montreal Canadiens. Juraj Slafkovsky was selected first overall by the Canadiens.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The league held preseason games in Europe for the first time since 2019. The Nashville Predators played SC Bern at PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland, on October 3, 2022. The San Jose Sharks played Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, on October 4.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The league held regular season games in Europe for the first time since the 2019–20 season. The Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks played their first two regular season games against each other on October 7 and 8, 2022, at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Then, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche played two games on November 4 and 5, at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The 2023 All-Star Game is scheduled for February 4, 2023, at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, the home of the Florida Panthers.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of games played on December 19, 2022.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the completion of games played on December 19, 2022, while playing at least 900 minutes.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: Each NHL team wore "Reverse Retro" jerseys for selected games during the 2020–21 season, utilizing a variety of uniform designs and color schemes from the teams' histories. After several months of speculation, the NHL formally announced the return of the "Reverse Retro" program for the 2022–23 season on October 19, 2022, with new designs. All 32 jerseys were formally revealed the next day on October 20, with all containing a vintage-styled orange and black NHL shield logo.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The following is a list of notable players who played their first NHL game during the 2022–23 season, listed with their first team.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: This is the ninth season of the league's 12-year Canadian national broadcast rights deal with Sportsnet. This includes Sportnet's sub-licensing agreements to air Saturday "Hockey Night in Canada" games on CBC Television and French-language broadcasts on TVA Sports. Sportsnet has discontinued the "Hometown Hockey" format for its Monday-night national games and replaced it with "Rogers Monday Night Hockey." The schedule includes two special Friday editions of "Hockey Night in Canada" on January 13 and 27, and the Hockey Day in Canada games on January 21.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: "NHL Live", the digital streaming package for both national and out-of-market games, has been discontinued. Out-of-market games now stream exclusively on Sportsnet Now Premium, albeit with reduced functionality with no home/away or radio broadcast features available.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: This follows the league's trend of moving out-of-market streaming rights directly onto a media partner's platform, after the previous season when ESPN+ took over the U.S. rights from the league's in-house "NHL.tv".


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The Winnipeg Jets hired Dan Robertson as the team's new TV play-by-play announcer, replacing Dennis Beyak.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: TSN analyst Mike Johnson replaced Ray Ferraro as a color commentator of the network's Toronto Maple Leafs broadcasts. Ferraro departed TSN to focus primarily on his duties as the lead color commentator on ESPN and ABC's NHL broadcasts in the United States.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: This is the second season of the league's seven-year U.S. national broadcast rights deals with the ESPN family of networks and Turner Sports.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: ESPN is airing exclusive regular season games on selected Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends, while ESPN2 is scheduled to air at least one game on April 1. ABC will continue to air games on selected Saturdays during the second half of the season. ESPN+ and Hulu will exclusively stream games throughout the season, primarily on most Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. ESPN+ will also stream all ABC games, several of the ESPN games, as well as out-of-market games. The All-Star Game and the Stadium Series will be on ABC, and ESPN will have the All-Star Skills Competition. NHL content on ESPN+, including out-of-market games, will be branded under the new title "NHL Power Play".


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: Turner is airing regular season games primarily on TNT, with TBS, truTV, and HLN being used as an overflow channel. Their games include Wednesday-night national games, selected Sunday games during the second half of the season, a Thanksgiving Showdown doubleheader on Black Friday, and the Winter Classic. Unlike last year, not all TNT's games are exclusive and will be blacked out in one of the participating teams' market in favor of the local broadcaster's feed.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: NHL Network continues to nationally televise selected regular season games not broadcast by either ESPN or TNT.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: In September 2022, Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment bought out NBCUniversal's ownership stake in NBC Sports Washington, which carries broadcasts of the Washington Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards, both Monumental-owned teams. Monumental initially took minority ownership of the network in 2016. NBC will provide transitional corporate, technical, and distribution support up to 18 months after the sale, and Monumental plans to rebrand the network after the 2022–23 season.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The Seattle Kraken hired Eddie Olczyk as a TV color analyst, joining John Forslund and J. T. Brown on a three-person booth for a majority of games. Olczyk will continue to hold the same position with TNT on a concurrent basis.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The New Jersey Devils hired Bill Spaulding as the team's new TV play-by-play announcer, replacing Steve Cangialosi.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: The Chicago Blackhawks promoted Patrick Sharp to a full-time TV color analyst, splitting duties with Troy Murray. The team also announced that Colby Cohen and Caley Chelios will contribute game analysis and other content on both TV and radio.


title: 2022–23 NHL season

text: After selling its stake in Disney Streaming, the NHL partnered with Sportradar (which had a ten-year deal with the league for data and video distribution) to assume the operations of its international streaming service NHL.tv.


title: Non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals

text: Non-reproductive sexual behavior consists of sexual activities animals participate in that do not lead to the reproduction of the species. Although procreation continues to be the primary explanation for sexual behavior in animals, recent observations on animal behavior have given alternative reasons for the engagement in sexual activities by animals. Animals have been observed to engage in sex for social interaction bonding, exchange for significant materials, affection, mentorship pairings, sexual enjoyment, or as demonstration of social rank. Observed non-procreative sexual activities include non-copulatory mounting (without insertion, or by a female, or by a younger male who does not yet produce semen), oral sex, genital stimulation, anal stimulation, interspecies mating, and acts of affection, although it is doubted that they have done this since the beginning of their existence. There have also been observations of sex with cub participants, same-sex sexual interaction, as well as sex with dead animals.


text: Lions are known to engage in sex to create bonds and interact with each other. Lions live in a social group known as a pride that consists of 2–18 females and 1–7 males. The females found in these prides were born into the pride. The males enter the pride from other prides. The success of reproduction for each individual lion is dependent on the number of male lions found in their social group. Male lions create coalitions and search for prides to take over. Successful coalitions have usually created a strong bond with each other and will take over prides. Once winning in a competition, all current males in the pride will be kicked out and left to find another pride. While in search for another pride these males will often engage in sexual behavior with each other; creating a strong bond in this new coalition created.


text: Sex plays a fundamental role in the social lives of bonobos. Female bonobos have been observed to engage in sexual activities to create bonds with dominant bonobos. Having created this bond with the male, they will share food with each other and not compete with each other. All members of a bonobo group are potential sex partners, regardless of age combination or gender combination. In "Biological Exuberance," Bagemihl writes: "when new females (usually adolescents) join a troop, they often pair up with an older female with whom they have most of their sexual and affectionate interactions." In addition, bonobos need not limit themselves to a single partner: "These bond need not be exclusive – either party may have sex with other females or males – but such mentorlike pairings can last for a year or more until the newcomer is fully integrated into the troop." Pairings between younger and older male bonobos are also common: "typically an adolescent male spreads his legs and presents his erect penis to an adult male, who takes the shaft in his hand and caresses it with up-and-down movements."


text: "Both adult males and females interact sexually with adolescents and juveniles (three-to-nine-year-olds). In fact, young females go through a five-to-six-year period sometimes referred to as adolescent sterility (although no pathology is involved) during which they actively participate in heterosexual mating (often with adults) but never get pregnant. Sexual behavior between adults and infants of both sexes is common - about a third of the time it is initiated by the infant and may involve genital rubbing and full copulatory postures (including penetration of an adult female by a male infant)."


text: Several species utilize sexual activity as a way to resolve disagreement. Bonobos are one species famously known for using sexual behavior as a means of resolution of social conflict.


text: In a study concentrated on primate conflict resolution, researchers wanted to observe primates in conflict. How primates coped and resolved conflicts was a main concern in this study. Researchers stated that after primates participated in a heated, physical fight; both primates involved in the fight would hug and have a mouth-to-mouth kiss. This action was considered as a demonstration of affection and reconciliation.


text: Awareness in species is difficult to determine. Learned behaviors that have been demonstrated in laboratories have provided good evidence that animals have instinct and a reward system. The behavior of laboratory animals demonstrates a mental experience wherein the animal's instincts tell it if it carries out a certain action, it will then receive what it needs. For example, the lab rat will push the lever because it knows food will fall out of the hole in the wall. It does not need awareness, but it does seem to work on a reward system. The lab rat learned the action needed to be fed.


text: Studies of the brain have proven that pleasure and displeasure are an important component in the lives of animals. It has been established that the limbic neural mechanism that generates reactions are very similar across all mammals. Many studies have concentrated on the brain reward system and how similar it is across mammals. Through extensive research, scientists have been able to conclude that the brain reward system in animals is extremely similar to that of humans. The mechanism of core pleasure reaction is significantly important for animals and humans.


text: In a case study, female Japanese macaques were studied to find evidence of possible female copulatory orgasms. The frequency of orgasms did not correlate with the age or rank of the Japanese macaques. Researchers observed that the longer and higher number of pelvic thrusts, the longer copulation lasted. There was an orgasmic response in 80 of the 240 Japanese macaques studied.


text: Evolutionary principles have predicted that the reward system is part of the proximate mechanism underlying the behavior. Because animals possess a brain reward system they are motivated to perform in different ways by desire and reinforced by pleasure. Animals establish security of food, shelter, social contact, and mating because proximate mechanism, if they do not seek these necessities they will not survive.


text: All vertebrates share similarities in body structure; they all have a skeleton, a nervous system, a circulatory system, a digestive system and excretory system. Similar to humans, non-human animals also have a sensory system. The sensory system is responsible for the basic five senses from touch to tasting. Most of the physiological and biochemical responses found in animals are found in humans. Neurophysiologists have not found any fundamental difference between the structure and function of neurons and synapse between humans and other animals.


text: Recent studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has provided evidence proving that chemical changes that occur with emotions are similar between humans and non-human animals. In a study comparing guinea pigs and humans, it was determined that the distress experienced by offspring separation in a guinea pig and a human going through depression activates the same region of the brain. The opiate receptor was also examined, allowing observation of the pleasure stimuli. In the procedure both a human and a rat had their receptors blocked with a certain drug. Once receptors were blocked, both the rat and the human were exposed to pleasurable food, but both were disinclined to eat the food.


text: Engagements of sexual activities during non-breeding seasons have been observed in the animal kingdom. Dolphins and Japanese macaques are two of the many species that engage in sexual activities that do not lead to fertilization. Great varieties of non-copulatory mounting are expressed in several species. Male lions engage in mounting with other male lions, especially when in search for another pride. The varieties of mounting include mounting without erections, mounting with erection but no insertion, and mounting from the side.


text: Expressions of affection are displayed in the animal kingdom as well. Affectionate behaviors do not include insertion or genital rubbing, but are still seen as a manner of sexual behavior. An affectionate activity can be as simple as licking. Male lions are known for head rubbing, bats engage in licking, and mountain sheep rub horns and faces with each other. Kissing, touching of noses, mouths and muzzles have been witnessed in African elephants, walruses, and mountain zebras. Primates also engage in kissing that is incredibly similar to human display of kissing. Chimpanzees have full mouth-to-mouth contact, and bonobos kiss with their mouth open and mutual tongue stimulation. There are a variety of acts to show affection such as African elephants intertwining their trunks, giraffes engaging in “necking”, and Hanuman langurs cuddling with each other in a front to back sitting position.


text: Non-penetrative genital stimulation is very common throughout the animal kingdom. Different forms of self and partner genital stimulation have been observed in the animal kingdom. Oral sex has been observed throughout the animal kingdom, from dolphins to primates. Bonobos have been observed to transition from a simple demonstration of affection to non-penetrative genital stimulation. Animals perform oral sex by licking, sucking or nuzzling the genitals of their partner. Another form of genital stimulation is masturbation. Masturbation is widespread throughout mammals for both males and females. It is less common in birds. There are several techniques, in which animals engage in masturbation from using paws, feet, flippers, tails, and sometimes using objects like sticks, pebbles, and leaves. Masturbation occurs more often in primate species with large testes relative to their body size.


text: Anal insertion with the penis (both in heterosexual and male homosexual dyads, i.e. pairs of animals) has been observed among some primate species. Male homosexual anal insertion has been recorded in Old World primate species, including gorillas, orangutans, and some members of the Macaca genus (namely, stumptail, rhesus, and Japanese macaques). It has also been recorded in at least two New World primate species, the squirrel monkey and the spider monkey. Morris (1970) also described one heterosexual orangutan dyad where all insertion was anal. However, the practice might have been a consequence of homosexual rearing, as the male orangutan in this dyad had had extensive same–sex experience.


text: A case of male homosexual anal insertion with the finger has also been reported among orangutans, and Bruce Bagemihl mentions it as one of the homosexual practices recorded at least once among male chimpanzees.


text: It appears that many animals, both male and female, masturbate, both when partners are available and otherwise. For example, it has been observed in cats, dogs, male Cape ground squirrels, male deer, rhinoceroses, boars, male monkeys and otters.


text: [The] behavior known within the horse breeding industry as "masturbation" ... involves normal periodic erections and penile movements. This behavior, both from the descriptive field studies cited above and in extensive study of domestic horses, is now understood as normal, frequent behavior of male equids. Attempting to inhibit or punish masturbation, for example by tying a brush to the area of the flank underside where the penis rubs into contact with the underside, which is still a common practice of horse managers regionally around the world, often leads to increased masturbation and disturbances of normal breeding behaviour.


text: Castration does not prevent masturbation, as it is observed in geldings. Masturbation is common in both mares and stallions, before and after puberty.


text: Sexologist Havelock Ellis in his 1927 "Studies in the Psychology of Sex" identified bulls, goats, sheep, camels and elephants as species known to practice autoeroticism, adding of some other species:


text: I am informed by a gentleman who is a recognized authority on goats, that they sometimes take the penis into the mouth and produce actual orgasm, thus practicing auto-fellatio. As regards ferrets ... "if the bitch, when in heat, cannot obtain a dog [ie, male ferret] she pines and becomes ill. If a smooth pebble is introduced into the hutch, she will masturbate upon it, thus preserving her normal health for one season. But if this artificial substitute is given to her a second season, she will not, as formerly, be content with it." ... Blumenbach observed a bear act somewhat similarly on seeing other bears coupling, and hyenas, according to Ploss and Bartels, have been seen practicing mutual masturbation by licking each other's genitals.


text: Apes and Monkeys use a variety of objects to masturbate with and even deliberately create implements for sexual stimulation ... often in highly creative ways.


text: ... perhaps the most creative form of animal masturbation is that of the male bottlenose dolphin, which has been observed to wrap a live, wriggling eel around its penis.


text: Among elephants, female same-sex behaviours have been documented only in captivity where they are known to masturbate one another with their trunks.


text: Animals of several species are documented as engaging in both autofellatio and oral sex. Although easily confused by laypeople, autofellatio and oral sex are separate, sexually oriented behaviors, distinct from non-sexual grooming or the investigation of scents.


text: Auto-fellatio or oral sex in animals is documented in spiders (Darwin's bark and widow), brown bears, stump-tailed macaques, Tibetan macaques, wolves, goats, primates, bats, cape ground squirrels and sheep (see section Masturbation for details).