Eagles are eating cows instead of salmon – and farmers are happy

• 6 months ago
• Radio
• Duration 7:58

In the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., bald eagles, which have historically fed on the carcasses of spawning chum salmon, have run short of their traditional food due to climate change and other factors. But a new study in the journal Ecosphere by Ethan Duvall, a PhD student in ecology at Cornell University indicates they’ve moved inland and are now scavenging cattle who have died on dairy farms. Farmers, it turns out, are happy with this as it solves a troubling disposal problem, and because the eagles also displace rodents and other birds that do harm to the farms.