Plastic mistaken for prey by a colony-breeding Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) in the Mediterranean Sea, revealed by camera-trap

Title:
Plastic mistaken for prey by a colony-breeding Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) in the Mediterranean Sea, revealed by camera-trap

Authors:
Ronny Steen, Cathrine S. Torjussen, Dean W. Jones, Thodoris Tsimpidis, Anastasia Miliou

Abstract:
Discarded plastic is known to be harmful for marine animals through ingestion and entanglement. Here we report the first documentation of Eleonora’s falcons providing plastic waste to dependent nestlings. Eleonora’s falcons breed colonially on sea cliffs and islets in areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands in which they normally feed their nestlings exclusively with small migratory birds