THE oldest golden eagle in Britain has been found dead in the Scottish Highlands after apparently getting into a fight with a younger rival.
The 18-year-old bird of prey’s carcass was found near a nest site at Forsinard in Sutherland.
The eagle was ringed in 1997 when it was a chick in a nest close to where it was found dead.
RSPB Scotland said tests suggested the bird died from natural causes, possibly brought on by fighting with a rival.
It was not known if the dead eagle was male or female.
An RSPB spokesman said: “The bird was found on our Forsinard Flows Reserve near to a nest site.
“It was sent away for analysis and was reckoned to have died from natural causes.
“Although conjecture, the most likely explanation is that it was one of the territory-holding birds and had been ousted by a younger bird trying to take over – they’d got into a fight and the older bird had died.”
The golden eagle is a huge bird of prey, being surpassed in size by only the white-tailed eagle larger in the UK.
With its long broad wings and longish tail, it has a different outline to the smaller buzzard.
It likes to soar and glide on air currents, holding its wings in a shallow “V”.
Eagles have traditional territories and nesting places which may be used by successive generations.
They have been illegally killed in the past and are still occasionally poisoned, or have their nests robbed.
The rugged and remote terrain of peatlands, uplands and mountains is the haunt of the golden eagle.
Originally, they ranged over much of upland Britain and Ireland.
Persecution and modification of their habitat since the mid 18th century has all but restricted them to the wildest parts of the Highlands and Islands.
A few pairs survive in the hills of southern Scotland but at the moment, there are none in England.
However, there is now a project to reintroduce golden eagles to the mountains of Ireland under way.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s first national plan to better protect the golden eagle’s favourite nesting placed, the peatlands, has been published.
Campaigners insist they need to be preserved because they support biodiversity and also store carbon.
Scottish Natural Heritage’s National Peatland Plan highlights actions to protect, manage and restore peatlands.
The Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland is Europe’s largest area of blanket bog peatlands, extending to 1,544sq miles (4,000sq km).
Peat is found across large parts of Scotland, storing an estimated 3,000 megatonnes of carbon as well as providing a habitat for a range of wild animals and plants.
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