Conservation Issues

While our seasonal migration counts tell us much about golden eagle numbers (they have been declining since 1995) but little about the factors behind them.

Juvenile eagle numbers do seem to rise and fall in harmony with the availability of snowshoe hares in Yukon and Alaska. Shortage of food causes breeding pairs to skip egg laying for that particular year. Pairs reproducte a single chick only four or fives times in a ten-year cycle.

On average the numbers of juveniles making their first trip south do indicate that reproduction rates in the north would be adequate to maintain healthy populations under historical circumstances.

However, spring migration counts indicate that mortality in the warm wintering ranges is outpacing natural replacement. Persistent drought and loss of habitat to human activity may be conspiring against winter survival in the United States and Mexico.Cross-boundary collaboration among raptor research groups is required to determine the causes and solutions related to golden eagle populations.

The Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation invites fellow research and conservation groups in the United States, Mexico and Canada to engage in dialog concerning eagle survival and habitat change.