Shane Cameron McPherson

Skylines | Raptor Research · Freelance

The study of diet is pivotal in understanding a species, particularly for quantifying a predatory raptors’ economic niche and potential for human-wildlife conflict. The crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) is one of Africa’s apex predators and a population is present within the urban greenspace mosaic of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Nata...

Understanding the range and behaviour of an invasive species is critical to identify key habitat areas to focus control efforts. Patterns of range use in parasites can differ temporally, across life stages and between sexes. The invasive avian vampire fly, Philornis downsi , spends the larval stage of its life within bird nests, feeding on developi...

Larger carnivores often trigger human-wildlife conflicts that arise from perceived threats to humans and domestic animals’ safety, which generate the need for management and removal strategies. These issues become especially challenging when humans and wildlife coexist close to one another, for example, in urban landscapes. African Crowned Eagles (...

Globally, but especially in Africa, increasing human populations and anthropogenic land-use change are generally affecting diversity negatively. Urban environments in southern Africa typically comprise a mosaic landscape of anthropogenic infrastructure with some green spaces. These urban cities have a range of fauna that have persisted or increased...

In the original publication, the figure 2 was processed incorrectly during the typesetting and publication process. The correct figure is provided in this correction. The original article has been corrected.

The main goal of the LIFE EUROKITE project is to reduce anthropogenic causes of mortality of the red kite in Europe. The efficient protection of the red kite requires the detailed understanding of overall mortality reasons, especially focusing on those caused by legal and illegal human activities. The LIFE EUROKITE project focuses on a Europe-wide...

Urbanisation is occurring around the world at a rapid rate and is generally associated with negative impacts on biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales. Examining the behavioural response profiles of wildlife to urbanisation helps differentiate between species that do or do not show adaptive responses to changing landscapes and hence are...

The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is widely distributed in the northern Hemisphere and is thus an ideal candidate to explore large-scale biogeographic patterns. In recent years, Golden Eagle population genetics has gained considerable attention. However, the Eastern Palearctic region, a numerical stronghold for the species, is one of the least g...

Urbanisation is rapidly transforming natural landscapes with consequences for biodiversity. Little is documented on the response of African wildlife to urbanisation. We reviewed case studies of vertebrate species’ responses to urbanisation in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to determine trends. Connected habitat mosaics of natural and anthropogenic gre...

Urban areas can be attractive to certain species because of increased food abundance and nesting availability, which in turn may increase productivity or breeding rates. However, there are also potential costs associated with urban living such as higher nest failure, poorer body condition, or increased prevalence of disease. These costs may result...

The ranging behaviour of raptors in human-altered environments, such as agricultural and suburban landscapes, is becoming increasingly important for conservationists in the context of unprecedented high rates of anthropogenic land use change. We studied the movement ecology of adult Long-crested Eagles Lophaetus occipitalis fitted with geographic p...

Disassortative mating in color-polymorphic raptors is a proposed mechanism for the maintenance of color polymorphism in populations. Selection for such a mating system may occur if there are fitness advantages of mating with a contrasting morph. In the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus), mixed-morph pairs may have a selective advantage beca...

Apex predators are sensitive to human disturbance and persecution, often becoming the first losses in a declining urban wildlife community. A population of Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) within eThekwini municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, persists in a green space network called the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (DMOSS). W...

Globally urban areas are expanding rapidly and this usually has negative effects on biodiversity. Despite this, some species manage to persist in urban areas, as is the case with African Crowned Eagles Stephanoaetus coronatus in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. As relatively little is known about African Crowned Eagle nestling diet, especially about ho...

Although most raptor species are sexually dimorphic, many species are non-discrete in some metrics. A limited amount of existing data for southern Africa suggests that Crowned Eagles Stephanoaetus coronatus exhibit non-discrete sexual dimorphism. Consequently, we investigated gender-related morphometric data of Crowned Eagles with corresponding gen...