Cabuaya eagle tagged
By Ben O. Tesiorna, Reporter

One of the three Philippine Eagles observed to be living in the Philippine Eagle Sanctuary in Mati, Davao Oriental was successfully captured and tagged by the Philippine Eagle Foundation with a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite transmitter.

The tagging aims to establish the movement patterns and habitat use among nesting adults for them to be able to know home range size and habitat preference of the eagles in Barangay Cabuaya where a family of three are nesting.

With the tagging, PEF also aims to investigate the patterns of dispersal and survival among young eagles after they leave their parent’s territory.

In a report by the PEF to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources dated March 6, 2009, PEF field research program coordinator Jayson Ibañez said that their team had captured and tagged a young female Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), about one year old, on February 27, 2009.

Prior to the trapping, PEF team composed of biologist Ron Taraya and field technician Aniceto Allado did field observations to know the status of breeding at the Cabuaya nest site from November 19-30, 2008.

After the field observation, first attempt of trapping was then conducted from January 20-30, 2009. Three traps on two trapping site were laid by PEF. The traps are usually made up of a modified bal-chatri trap baited with a medium-sized rabbit or monkey. The first trapping attempt was however a failure.

A second attempt was conducted from February 21-27 where a total of four traps were used in two trapping sites. Traps were positioned below favorite perch trees and flight ways of the Philippine eagle.

Using a 25-60x Nikon fieldscope and an 8x40 binoculars, PEF spotter observed the traps from afar and provide feedbacks to the trap attendants regarding eagle activities and more importantly if an eagle has already been trapped.

The PEF report said that the successful second tagging attempt could be attributed to the bad weather condition in the area that week that prevented the eagles from flying to look for food.

“But this was a blessing in disguise as the birds were most likely hungry because of the difficulty of hunting during rainy weather. And if they were indeed hungry, then there is a high chance of them taking on the bait,” The PEF report stated.

True enough, as they entered into their last day of trying to capture an eagle and after seven days of rain and strong winds, the young female bird was finally captured at around 11:26 in the morning.
After getting confirmation from the spotter, PEF attendants rushed to the trap to restrain the eagle. The eagle was covered with a large towel to darken its surrounding and calm it. The legs were then secured and a hood inserted into its head to further calm the bird.

Nylon nooses that captured the eagle’s digits were then carefully cut using a sharp scissor. Elastic bandaged is then wrapped around the body of the eagle to secure the wings and masking tape was rolled around the talons and the digits to secure them.

The eagle was then transported to the PEF working station where a physical examination was administered and the tracking device installed. The battery-operated GPS transmitter was “backpacked” on the eagle using a Y-attachment. The transmitter has a neoprene padding to serve as cushion while the harness is made of Teflon.

The ends of the harness passed through a leather patch on top of which they were tied together, sewed and glued. The breast patch is meant to cushion skin abrasions from the knots. A leg band was also installed on the eagle. A “window” was also clipped on the secondary feathers of the bird to allow investigators to identify the bird even when it is in flight.

PEF report stated that the GPS transmitter is programmed to provide five GPS coordinates each day. A GPS transmitter programmed to provide a single location each day normally lasts a year. But with how the transmitter used by PEF is programmed, they expect the GPS transmitter to last only up to five months.

The trapped eagle was found to be in perfect health based on the physical examination conducted by Dr. Romelyn Reponte thus it was released immediately after the examination and the tagging.

The presence of the Philippine eagle in Cabuaya area was first reported in 1995 after a young eagle was turned over to the PEF by concerned citizens of Cabuaya. Starving and emaciated, the eagle crash landed into a farm and was rescued by the community officials.

Field monitoring followed from 1995-2003 where adult eagles were consistently detected, but the nest remained to be found. On March 2005, an active nest with a downy 5-8 week old chick was finally discovered that led to the creation of the 7,000-hectare Eagle Sanctuary in Cabuaya by the local government of Mati in 2006 that was supported by all sectors including the mining companies in the area.

BHP Billiton is said to be paying for the salary of the sanctuary caretaker. BOT