Data from: When raptors are away, opossums will play: Woolly opossums as carrion feeders in Harpy Eagle nests
Data files
Jun 16, 2026 version files 1.03 MB
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Harpy_eagle_nest_Camera_trap.csv
1.03 MB
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README.md
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Abstract
During a 12-month camera-trap study at a Harpy Eagle nest in central Brazil, we documented woolly opossums scavenging prey remains accumulated beneath the nest. These observations provide evidence of an overlooked ecological interaction between New World marsupials and avian predators. In the associated study, we review records of scavenging by New World marsupials and highlight future research directions, including the use of camera traps and experimental carcass-removal studies to better understand the ecological importance of scavenging behavior in these mammals. This dataset contains curated camera-trap records collected at a Harpy Eagle nest in the Rio Vermelho region, municipality of Salto do Céu, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The data include photographic records used to document scavenging events and associated wildlife activity at the nest site.
GENERAL INFORMATION
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Title of Dataset: Camera trap dataset from a Harpy Eagle nest in Central Brazil
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Author Information
A. Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino Institution: Universidade Federal de Viçosa Address: Viçosa, MG, Brazil Email: guilherme.garbino@ufv.br
B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Everton Miranda Institution: Tohoku University Address: Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Email: miranda@tohoku.ac.jp
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Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): December 2018 - November 2019
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Geographic location of data collection: Rio Vermelho, county of Salto do Céu, Mato Grosso, Brazil (-15.12; -58.13 - approximate coordinates of the county). We do not provide exact coordinates, as the harpy eagle is an endangered species.
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Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: SouthWild.com Conservation Travel System, Rain-forest Biodiversity Group, Idea Wild, The Mamont Scholars Program of the Explorer's Club Exploration Fund, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Rufford Small Grants Foundation (18743-1, 23022-2, and 31091-B). National Funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UIDP/50027/2020).
SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION
- Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain
- Links to publications that cite or use the data:
Machado, J. P. F., Semedo, Thiago B. F., Miranda, E. B. P. & Garbino, G. S. T. (2025). When raptors are away, opossums will play: woolly opossums as carrion feeders in harpy eagle nests. Biotropica.
- Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: None
- Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: None
- Was the data derived from another source? No
A. If yes, list source(s): NA - Recommended citation for this dataset:
Garbino, G. S. T., Machado, J. P. F., Semedo, Thiago B. F., & Miranda, E. B. P. (2025). Data from: When raptors are away, opossums will play: woolly opossums as carrion feeders in harpy eagle nests. Dryad Digital Repository.
DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
- File List:
A) Harpy_eagle_nest_Camera_trap.csv
- Relationship between files, if important: None
- Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: None.
- Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No
A. If yes, name of file(s) that were updated: NA
i. Why was the file updated? NA
ii. When was the file updated? NA
DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: Harpy_eagle_nest_Camera_trap.csv
The dataset includes all camera-trap photographs and videos relevant to the study, together with associated metadata describing the date, time, and species recorded in each scavenging event.
- Number of variables: 16
- Number of cases/rows: 10210
- Variable List:
- Photo_ID: number of the image or video file generated by the camera trap
- Campaign_ID: name of the field campaign the camera was on
- Lat: decimal latitude of the nest
- Long: decimal longitude of the nest
- Camera_ID: ID used for the camera
- Prey_ID: taxonomic identification, to the lowest level possible, of prey taxa (when visible in the images)
- Prey_age: estimated age of prey (when visible in the images)
- Nestling_age: age of harpy eaglet
- Adult_on_photo: if adult harpy eagles were visible on photos/videos (Yes/No)
- Number_of_adults: number of adult harpy eagles observable in photos/videos (0/1/2)
- Time: time of day the photo/video was taken, varying from 00:00 to 23:59
- Day: day of the month when the photo/video was recorded
- Month: month when the photo/video was recorded
- Year: year when the photo/video was recorded
- Observations: additional observations
- Missing data codes: NA
- Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None
A Bushnell Trophy Cam camera trap equipped with lithium batteries and a 16 GB (or larger) memory card was installed at an active Harpy Eagle nest in the Cerrado of Salto do Céu, Mato Grosso, Brazil (ca. 15°07′ S, 57°55′ W). The camera was positioned approximately 0.5–1 m from the nest and was programmed to record a single photograph at intervals of either 10 s or, during some periods, 10 min. Between 30 January and 2 February 2019, the camera settings were modified to record 5- or 10-s videos at 10-min intervals. The nest was located 17 m above ground in a Jatobá tree (Hymenaea courbaril). Camera installation and maintenance were performed using specialized tree-climbing techniques developed for raptor research (Pagel & Thorstrom 2007; Rosenfield et al. 2007). Research activities were authorized by the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (SISBIO permit no. 58533).
The camera operated from 15 December 2018 to 26 November 2019, providing a total sampling effort of 300 camera-trap days. During this period, 11,189 photographs and 54 videos were obtained. The nest was occupied by a juvenile Harpy Eagle from 14 to 31 January 2019, when the individual died. Thereafter, adult Harpy Eagles visited the nest sporadically during February and March. From June 2019 onward, the nest was continuously occupied by a breeding pair, which laid an egg in October 2019 (Lemos et al. 2025). Throughout January and from June to November 2019, adult Harpy Eagles regularly delivered mammalian prey to the nest, primarily armadillos (Cabassous squamicaudis and Euphractus sexcinctus). These prey remains accumulated in and around the nest and provided the basis for documenting scavenging events recorded by the camera trap.