Bald Eagle Diet Shift Enhances Conservation, Study Finds

-Seabirds provided an abundant source of carrion for the local eagle population until the pesticide DDT wiped out the eagles in the 1960s.
- Since bald eagles are extremely opportunistic, they can quickly adapt to changes in the prey base of the diverse ecosystems they inhabit.
-Because there are no sheep on the islands today and the seabird populations are diminished, the researchers thought the introduced eagles could scavenge seal or seal lion carrion
-Atoms of elements such as carbon and nitrogen, which cycle through the food chain, come in different forms, or isotopes that have the same number of protons, but different numbers of neutrons. Scientists can distinguish them by the tiny differences in their masses.
-The researchers could determine the diets of bald eagles by analyzing the isotopes found in their remains.

I thought that the bald eagles ability to adapt to its environment and change its diet is pretty cool. The survival instinct it takes to live in the wild is a lot different than what it takes to live a civilized life. In biology class we talked about adaptation, and this is a great example of it. Nature forces a lot of species to adapt in order to survive, in fact now that I think about nature also forces us to evolve. With different diseases and viruses going around man kind is forced to create certain medicines and change the way we live. But in that sense we are in one way or another slowly conquering natural selection.


Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161231.htm

Picture: http://fatfinch.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bald-eagle-head2.jpg

Citation: Carnegie Institution. "Bald Eagle Diet Shift Enhances Conservation, Study Finds." ScienceDaily 4 May 2010. 17 May 2010 .