Dingoes take the tail, eagles take the head: Australia's scavengers order from the menu, not the bin

Scavengers have a reputation as nature's unfussy dustbins — first come, first served, eat anything. Camera traps in Australia's Blue Mountains say otherwise. Researchers watched 40 eastern grey kangaroo carcasses across a summer and a winter, recording dingoes, wedge-tailed eagles and red foxes as they fed. A pattern emerged: eagles arriving first consistently chose the head and abdomen, dingoes targeted the tail — both fatty, energy-rich spots — while foxes, outranked by both, made do with what was left. As a carcass aged, eagles shifted to the protein-dense hindlimbs, and in winter both top scavengers ate more from the abdomen. In other words, the animals were balancing fat and protein, adjusting by season and by freshness — less like dustbins, more like diners who have read the menu carefully. The study is published in Royal Society Open Science.