Prey density, prey detectability and food habits: the case of Bonelli’s eagle and the conservation measures

In the diet of raptors the presence of prey-species is influenced by their abundance and the ground-level vegetation in territories, this situation being analysed for the Bonelli’s eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus) in south-eastern Spain. First, the minimum number of prey-items for the reliability of results was tested, obtaining between 15 and 30 prey-items depending of pair. Second, differences in prey frequency and productivity among pairs was analysed, finding an interpair shift in both variables, but there was no relationship between the frequency of prey-species in the diet and productivity. Third, it was found that the percentage of European wild rabbit in the diet was less correlated with its abundance in territories than with the surface of open land in the same. This suggests that accessibility to rabbits would be more important for the Bonelli’s eagle that the absolute abundance of this prey type. Thus, open land is the single variable selected by a multiple multiple-regression analysis explaining the frequency of rabbits in this raptor’s diet. Birds as prey complemented the diet when open-land scarcity in the territories implies low rabbit detectability and consumption. Conservation measures proposed concerning the increase of prey availability in this declining population should consider both the absolute prey density and prey detectability, avoiding extensive reforestation in territories and favouring vegetation structure suitable for prey detection by eagles.