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Raptor Monitoring Surveys 2022

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)’s 2022 raptor monitoring season began February 21 and concluded August 12, 2022. During the season, 51 monitoring sessions took place at seven major monitoring areas, capturing raptor breeding and nesting data across 17 individual rock formations. This year, staff and volunteers contributed 407 hours of monitoring to the program. While less than the total monitoring hours completed in 2021 (416 hours), 2022 monitoring hours were well above the 10-year average of annual monitoring hours (~300 hours).

Red tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk

NPS Photo/A. Schonlau

Results

2022 was a successful year for raptor management at Lumpy Ridge. Two chicks successfully fledged during the breeding season – one Red-tailed Hawk and one Golden Eagle. While this number may seem low, most raptor species only produce one chick per season. Past monitoring data show that, at Lumpy Ridge, the greatest number of total raptor fledglings observed in a season was seven (2004). Some years, including a stretch from 2016-2019, resulted in no successful fledgling observations in this area.

The Golden Eagle chick was observed late in the breeding season. To ensure the chick had adequate time to fledge, temporary closures were extended at Sundance Buttress, The Needle summit, and Thunder Buttress. Several other closures were lifted early due to lack of breeding and nesting observations.

See Results by Monitoring Location

Lumpy Ridge
Lumpy Ridge - a popular raptor nesting and breeding location in RMNP.

NPS Photo

Long-term Trends in Successful Raptor Fledglings at Lumpy Ridge

Park managers and scientists utilize long-term raptor monitoring data to explore trends over time. The number of observed raptor fledglings is an indicator for population longevity. This information also can help park managers understand if temporary raptor closures are successful in mitigating human disturbance in popular recreational areas.

Since monitoring began, five species of raptors have fledged at Lumpy Ridge. The following trends have been observed by species:

  • Golden Eagle - In the early years of monitoring, from 1989 to 2001, observers usually reported at least one successful fledgling per year. Since 2002, however, successful Golden Eagle fledglings have been intermittent (2004, 2008, 2010). From 2020 – 2022, one successful fledgling was observed each year.
  • Prairie Falcon – Successful Prairie Falcon fledglings were observed in many years from 1996 to 2008, but not since.
  • Red-tailed Hawk – Only three successful Red-tailed Hawk fledglings have been observed at Lumpy Ridge since monitoring began. The first observation occurred in 1998, with the second and third occurring in 2020 and 2022.
  • Peregrine Falcon - In 1998, just one year before Peregrine Falcons were delisted under the Endangered Species Act, successful fledglings were observed for the first time in nine years of monitoring. The only other years with observations of successful fledglings were 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2020.
  • Cooper’s Hawk - In 2004 to 2008, Cooper’s Hawks successfully bred at Lumpy Ridge, but fledglings have not been seen since.

When looking at overall trends in fledgling success at Lumpy Ridge, of note is that the number of fledglings has decreased since 2008, with no successful fledglings recorded from 2016 – 2019.

During most of the 2020 breeding season, Lumpy Ridge, and the rest of RMNP, were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, six successful fledglings were observed at Lumpy Ridge and included the greatest number of Peregrine Falcon fledglings recorded there since monitoring began.

While fledgling success is affected by a variety of natural factors including weather, food availability, disease, and predation, these results raise the question of whether human recreational activity outside of temporary closures could be disturbing raptors.

As part of the park’s adaptive raptor management, staff will continue to collect data to inform future raptor protection efforts.

A red tailed hawk in a tree
Raptors of Rocky Mountain National Park

Curious about Rocky's Raptors? Explore more here.

Explore Current Raptor Closures in RMNP
Raptor Closures

An american kestrel sitting on a post.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Last updated: January 9, 2023