Andean eagles have managed to adapt to fragmenting habitats -- for now
by Maxwell Radwin on 30 June 2022
Even the greatest, most mobile predators aren’t immune to the shrinking of South America’s forests. The endangered black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori), one of the largest raptors on the continent, has been forced to change its behavior to survive in increasingly fragmented habitats and growing threats from humans.
A new study in Global Ecology and Conservation found that this aerial predator is successfully adapting to shrinking tropical and subtropical forests in the Andean mountains, but may still face serious threat of extinction if forest loss continues.
“In order to maintain viable populations of this top predator and its key ecological functions,” the study said, “it is urgent to mitigate human persecution.”
Between 2015 and 2020, researchers tagged eight eagles — which have a 180-centimeter (70-inch) wingspan and can weigh as much as 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) — in Colombia and Argentina, in hopes of better understanding how the species was hunting, nesting and traveling in an ever-diminishing forest ecosystem.
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/andean-eagles-have-managed-to-adapt-to-fragmenting-habitats-for-now/
