White-tailed Eagle (Havørn), Langeland, February 14, 2015

White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla is a very large bird. It measures 66–94 cm (26–37 in) in length with a 1.78–2.45 m (5.8–8.0 ft) wingspan. The wingspan, with a midpoint of 2.18 m (7.2 ft), is on average the largest of any eagle. Some individuals have been found to live over 25 years, 21 years being the average for grown up eagles. White-tailed Eagle reaches sexual maturity at the age of 5-7 years, when birds pair up and find territories they last their whole lives. According to the web there are approximately 5 pairs of these eagles on Langeland. White-tailed Eagle is Northern Europe's largest bird of prey, with its giant wingspan the bird is impressive to watch. Among ornithologists it is known as "the flying door". The main diet of the White-tailed Eagle is fish, but they also eat Coot, Mallard, Hare, Gull, Cormorant and pheasant. Sometimes eagles specializes in catching a particular prey, for example cormorant or coot. Havørnen (Haliaeetus albicilla) er Nordeuropas største rovfugl, og med sit gigantiske vingefang er fuglen imponerende at skue. Blandt ornitologer er den kendt som "den flyvende dør" pga. de stive, brede, rektangulære vinger og den korte, kileformede hale, som er hvid hos udvoksede fugle. Menuen kan udover fisk bestå af Blishøne, Gråand, Hare, Måge, Skarv og Fasan. Nogle steder specialiserer ørnene sig i at fange et bestemt byttedyr, f.eks. skarv eller blishøne. Havørne bliver først kønsmodne i en alder af 5-7 år, hvor fuglene danner par og finder territorier, som de holder hele deres liv. Den gennemsnitlige levetid for voksne fugle er ca. 21 år men nogle lever mere end 25 år. Ifølge nettet er der ca. 5 par på Langeland.

In July 2012, the female and chick from the nest on the image was found dead - poisoned. The full-feathered chick, were found in the nest, and the adult female about 50 feet from the tree. The birds were poisoned with carbofuran. Carbofuran is an extremely dangerous neurotoxin that paralyzes the breathing immediately, and it has been banned across the EU since 2008. One person was suspected of poisoning the eagles by placing poisoned meat near the nest. But the police did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the suspect. Prosecutor Brian Dybdahl from Funen Police writes January 9, 2013 in a letter to the reviewers that investigations are stopped: "I was particularly concerned that no witnesses have seen the person at the scene of the crime, just as there is found carbofuran at the suspect. The fact that the suspect has distributed pheasants in the area, and therefore might have an interest in killing the birds of prey, is in my view, not sufficient evidence that I can charge him." Carbofuran is known to be popular with some of the people distributing pheasants at their land to increase their income from hunting parties. They put out poisoned meat to kill the birds of prey which they believe eating pheasants. Since June 2010, the Danish Ornithological Society learned of poisoning of 9 large birds of prey at 7 different locations in Denmark: red kite at Trelleborg in West Zealand in April 2010, two sea eagles at Odense Fjord June 2010 eagle at Bovballe on Langeland March 2011 golden eagle on Tjele Gods by Viborg March 2012 2 sea eagles at Tranekær on Langeland summer 2012, red kite at Køge in October 2012 and the red kite on Frijsenborg Estate in East Jutland november 2012. I juli 2012 blev to af de i alt tre havørne fra reden på billedet fundet døde - forgiftede. Den ene, parrets fuldfjerede unge, blev fundet i reden, og den voksne hun omkring 50 meter fra redetræet. Fuglene var forgiftet carbofuran. Carbofuran er en ekstremt farlig nervegift, som lammer åndedrættet øjeblikkeligt, og det har været forbudt i hele EU siden 2008. En person blev mistænkt for giftdrabet på havørnene. Men politiet mente ikke at der var tilstrækkeligt bevis. Anklager Brian Dybdahl fra Fyns Politi skriver 9. januar 2013 i et brev til anmelderne, at efterforskningen er standset: ”Jeg har især lagt vægt på, at ingen vidner har set, hvem der har foretaget forgiftningen, ligesom der ikke er fundet carbofuran hos mistænkte. Den omstændighed, at mistænkte har udsat fasaner i området, og derfor kunne have en interesse i, at der ikke var rovfugle, er efter min vurdering ikke tilstrækkeligt bevis til, at jeg kan sigte ham”. Carbofuran er populært hos nogle af de jagtudlejere som sætter fasaner ud. De udlægger forgiftet kød til at dræbe de rovfugle som de mener spiser fasanerne. Siden juni 2010 har Dansk Ornitologisk Forening fået kendskab til forgiftninger af 9 store rovfugle 7 forskellige steder i Danmark: rød glente ved Trelleborg på Vestsjælland april 2010, 2 havørne ved Odense Fjord juni 2010, havørn ved Bovballe på Langeland marts 2011, kongeørn på Tjele Gods ved Viborg marts 2012, 2 havørne ved Tranekær på Langeland sommer 2012, rød glente ved Køge oktober 2012 og rød glente på Frijsenborg Gods i Østjylland november 2012.

Luckily found the male found a new mate (from southern Germany according its marker) as can be seen on the picture. This winter blew most of the nest blew down, but the eagles have been busy repairing the nest preparing for this year’s chicks. Heldigvis fandt hannen sig en ny mage (fra Sydtyskland ifølge ringmærket), som det kan ses på billedet. Denne vinter blæste det meste af reden ned, men, som der fremgår af billedet, har ørnene været i gang med at reparere den.

Langeland landscape