Golden eagles in the U.S. and Canada: Status, trends, and conservation challenges

We reviewed the literature to assess status and population trends and to identify mortality
factors affecting Golden Eagle populations in the U.S. and Canada. Nesting populations in Alaska and Canada are stable, but some nesting populations in the western U.S. have declined. Small but steady declines in the intermountain West have been associated with shrub loss and declining jackrabbit populations; declines in southern California have been attributed to urbanization. Migration counts in the eastern U.S. suggest a decline in Golden Eagles from the 1930s to the early 1970s, with a stable or increasing trend since the early 1970s. No significant trends in migration counts were reported for Golden Eagles in the western U.S. sincet he mid-1980s. Western migration count sites on the continental
divide in the Rocky Mountains at or just north of the U.S.-Canadian border (49-51??N latitude) show potential to provide information on trends of Golden Eagle populations from Alaska and western Canada. Most eagle mortality is human related. This paper illustrates the need for more effective monitoring of Golden Eagle populations in North America.