Goshawk prey have more bacteria than non‐prey

Predators often prey on individuals that are sick or otherwise weakened. Although previousstudies have shown higher abundance of parasites in prey, whether prey have elevated loads ofmicro-organisms remains to be determined.2. We quantified the abundance of bacteria and fungi on feathers of woodpigeons Columbapalumbus L., jays Garrulus glandarius L. and blackbirds Turdus merula L. that either fell prey togoshawks Accipiter gentilis L. or were not depredated.3. We found an almost three-fold increase in bacterial load of prey compared with non-prey, whilethere was no significant difference between prey and non-prey in level of fungal infection of theplumage.4. The results were not confounded by differences in size or mass of feathers, date of collection offeathers, or date of analysis of feathers for micro-organisms.5. These findings suggest a previously unknown contribution of bacteria to risk of predation, withimportant implications for behaviour, population ecology and community ecology.