Summer movements of female Golden Eagle 1502 at the northwestern edge of North America.

USFWS Biologist Stephen Lewis with Golden Eagle 1502.

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To develop and implement effective and efficient conservation and management plans for migratory birds, we need to know how, where, and when they travel and how conditions across their range affect their ability to survive and to produce young. Currently, we are collaborating with US Geological Survey, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Conservation Science Global, Inc., to quantify the year-round movements of Alaska’s migratory golden eagles. As part of that study, we captured Golden Eagle 1502 on 24 March 2015 near Big Grayling Lake on the southern slopes of the Mentasta Mountains in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve and attached a 45-g satellite solar powered telemetry unit to her using a lightweight and durable harness. Based on her plumage, we estimated her age at 2 years. Since then we’ve monitored her movements remotely via the satellite telemetry unit that provides us with her location every hour, daily from about 0700 to 1900 throughout the year. Because the telemetry unit batteries are charged via solar power, we do not obtain much data from her between November and late February because she most likely remains in Alaska for the winter.

Spring Migration to the Seward Peninsula in 2015

Immediately after release, Golden Eagle 1502 moved westward from Mentasta Mountain in Wrangell-St. Elias NPP across interior Alaska to the Seward Peninsula, including Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, from 24 March to 1 June 2015.

Locations for Golden Eagle 1502 as she moved westward from Mentasta Mountains in Wrangell-St. Elias NPP across interior Alaska to the Seward Peninsula from 24 March to 1 June 2015.

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Movements on the Seward Peninsula: Spring through Fall 2015

Golden Eagle 1502 reached the eastern Seward Peninsula on 11 April 2015 and her eventual summer range on about 8 May 2015. She remained on that summer range on the very western portion of the Seward Peninsula, including portions of Bering Land Bridge NP, until about 13 October 2015.

 

Locations for Golden Eagle Female 1502 on the Seward Peninsula from 1 April to 31 October 2015. The green line shows the border of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

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Three Years of Movements on the Seward Peninsula: Spring through Fall 2016 - 2018

The three maps below show location of Golden Eagle 1502 from 1 April to 31 October, from 2016 - 2018. Based on the timing of her arrival on the summer range in 2015 and 2016 and her extensive movements on this range throughout the breeding season in 2015, 2016 and 2017, we do not think that she was attending eggs or nestlings. However, she arrived on that range earlier in 2017 and 2018, and her much more localized movements in 2018 suggests that she may have established a nesting territory and we expect that she may attempt to lay eggs and raise nestlings in 2019.
 

Locations for Golden Eagle 1502 on the Seward Peninsula from 1 April to 31 October 2016. The green line shows the border of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

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Locations for Golden Eagle 1502 on the Seward Peninsula from 1 April to 31 October 2016. The green line shows the border of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

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Locations for Golden Eagle 1502 on the Seward Peninsula from 1 April to 31 October 2018. The green line shows the border of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

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Every telemetered eagle tells an important, and unique, story. Our telemetry studies continue to provide new information on the movements of non-territorial Golden Eagles in Alaska during the breeding season, expanding our understanding of the ecology of this species. This information should be useful for developing effective management and conservation strategies for this species in Alaska.

Please contact Carol McIntyre (e-mail us) if you have any questions about this eagle or our ongoing collaborative studies of eagle movements.
Learn more about our long-running ecological study of migratory Golden Eagles.