The Talledaga Golden Eagle Project, with Jonathan Stober, Wildlife Biologist with the USFS Talledaga National Forrest. March 25, 2017
Jonathan described ongoing collaborative studies of the Golden Eagle as efforts are made to doacument their prevalence east of the Mississippi and migration routes between breeding grounds in Canada and wintering sites in the mountainous regions of the south. The hope is that knowing more about golden eagle movements will help to prevent the significant population decline seen in western states due to wind turbines built within the birds’ habitat and migration paths. This information should be helpful in planning the best locations for wind farm placement, as well as providing more general information that will be useful for maximizing the use of available land for the benefit of these animals.
Jonathan described the photographic methods used to monitor the birds’ presence in the landscape and the banding and tracking process used to keep up with them over time and place. He also acknowledged the collaborative partners in this endeavor, which helps to spread out the cost in time and expense and makes possible a much broader application of results.
