More About Eagles

A white-tailed eagle was seen at Kindrochet Lodge at Calvine last week. They are pretty distinctive birds - bigger than a golden eagle and less 'shaped', so they look like a big flying door. In fact, they are Scotland's largest bird of prey. The white tail is also a giveaway, although the juveniles don't have this. They are also much more liberal in their diet than golden eagles, eating pretty much anything including fish, gulls and rabbits, but also very happy to scavenge carrion or steal the catch of another bird or otter.

White-tailes eagles, also known as sea eagles, are now a relatively common sight on parts of the west coast of Scotland. A successful reintroduction project, after their extinction in 1916, has brought them back to the west of Scotland. A reintroduction on the east coast of Scotland has just come to an end. A total of 85 birds were released over th elast 6 years in locations in Fife and Tayside.

If you see a white-tailed eagle anywhere in the east of Scotland, the RSPB would be very happy to get your sighting, as they are following the success of these birds - eastscotlandseaseagles@rspb.org. Although the birds tend to be coastal, they are found inland too as the sighting at Calvine shows - Calvine is the furthest point from the sea anywhere in Scotland. They are also keen to hear of any red kite sightings in Perthshire as these birds have been spreading their range too.