Distribution, density, and land cover associations of wintering Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains

In addition to its resident Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), the Southern Great Plains of North America receives an influx of migrant Golden Eagles each winter. However, little current or quantitative information is available regarding eagle presence or the species' land cover associations across the region. During the winters of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, we surveyed Golden Eagles along 51 approximately 55-km-long road survey transects within a 136,800-km² area of the Southern Great Plains of eastern New Mexico and the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. Our goal was to estimate the winter density of Golden Eagles in the region and to evaluate their land cover associations. Detections were low, with an estimated regional winter density of 0.31 eagles per 100 km². We found that Golden Eagles were detected in rangeland cover types in greater proportion, and in agricultural and other land cover types in lesser proportion, to their availability. Our results provide regulatory agencies with data that may facilitate better-informed decision making for eagle conservation in the region.