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A ‘win-win’ for Bald Eagles and farmers

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    Bald Eagles and dairy farmers exist in a mutually useful relationship in elements of northwestern Washington state. In response to a brand new research, this “win-win” relationship has been a more moderen growth, pushed by the influence of local weather change on eagles’ conventional winter eating regimen of salmon carcasses, in addition to by elevated eagle abundance following a long time of conservation efforts. The analysis is printed within the journal Ecosphere.

    “The narrative round birds of prey and farmers has historically been unfavourable and combative, primarily as a result of claims of livestock predation,” defined lead creator Ethan Duvall within the Division of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Cornell College. “Nonetheless, dairy farmers in northwestern Washington don’t take into account the eagles threats. The truth is, many farmers admire the providers that the eagles present equivalent to carcass removing and pest-deterrence.”

    Duvall, with collaborators Emily Schwabe and Karen Steensma from the College of Washington and Trinity Western College in Canada, carried out face-to face interviews with farmers on small, medium, and huge dairy operations in Whatcom County to raised perceive this distinctive relationship. The research was motivated by Duvall’s most up-to-date analysis displaying that eagles have been redistributing from rivers to farmland in response to the declining availability of salmon carcasses throughout the previous 50 years. 

    “Local weather change has altered the chum salmon spawning schedule, inflicting them to run earlier within the winter,” mentioned Duvall. “Now the salmon are spawning when annual Nooksack River flooding is at its peak. The fish who spawn and die are swept away by the excessive water as a substitute of being deposited on shore the place the eagles can simply entry them.”

    Duvall notes that the shift in timing has lowered the variety of obtainable carcasses on the native river, not the variety of particular person salmon. Nonetheless, many rivers within the Pacific Northwest have skilled dramatic salmon inhabitants declines, additionally eliminating winter sources for eagles.

    To make up for the discount of their pure meals provide, eagles have turned to the regular stream of dairy farm by-products ensuing from the births and deaths of cows and prey on waterfowl populations that feed and relaxation within the agricultural areas. Bald Eagles additionally hold a lid on conventional farm pests, equivalent to rodents and starlings.

    We all know this constructive interplay between farmers and Bald Eagles will not be the norm in lots of different agricultural areas, particularly close to free-range poultry farms the place the eagles snatch chickens,” mentioned Duvall. “However this research provides me hope that, transferring ahead, farmers, wildlife managers, and conservationists can come collectively to suppose critically about how you can maximize advantages for folks and wildlife within the areas they share.”

    Due to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for offering this information.

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