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

--We reviewed the literature to assess tatus 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 rends in migration counts were reported for Golden Eagles in the western U.S. since the mid-1980s. Western migration count sites on the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains at or just north of the U.S.-Canadian border (49-51øN 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. K•3⁄4 WOP, DS: Golden Eagle; Aquila chrysaetos; status; monitoring; mortality; U.S.; Canada. Aguilas reals en E.U.A. y canad•t: estado, tendencias y retos para su conservaci0n RESt)MEN.--Revisamos la literatura para evaluar el estado y las tendencias poblacionales y para identificar los factores de mortalidad qne afectan las poblaciones de/tguila real en E.U.A. y Canad/t. Las poblaciones que anidan en Alaska y Canad•t est•m estables, pero algunas poblaciones que anidan en el oeste de E.U.A. hah declinado. Pequefias, pero continuas declinaciones en el oeste intermontafioso hah sido asociadas con la perdida de arbustos y con el decline en las poblaciones de liebres; el declive en el sur de California ha sido atribuido a la urbanizaci6n. Conteos migratorios en el este de E.U.A. sugieren un decline en las •tguilas reals desde los aftos 1930s hasta principios de los 1970s, con nna tendencia estable o a incrementar desde el principio de los 1970s. Ninguna tendencia significativa en conteos de migratorios fue reportada para las •guilas reals en el oeste de E.U.A. desde mediados de los 1980s. Los sitios de conteo de migraci6n del oeste sobre la dMsoria continental en las montafias rocosas en o justo al norte de la frontera E.U.A.-Canad•t (49-51 ø latitud N) tiene potencial para proveer de informaci6n sobre las tendencias de las poblaciones de •tguilas reals de Alaska y el oeste de Canad•. La mayoria de la mortalidad de las 5guilas esta relacionada con los humanos. Este articulo ilustra la nccesidad de nn monitoreo mas ei•ctivo de las poblaciones de •tguila real en Notre America. [Traducci6n de C•sar M/trquez y Victor Vanegas] Until recently Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) were considered abundant in North America with stable populations (Hamerstrom et al. 1975, Pahner 1988). However, some studies, particularly those from migration count sites in the U.S. (e.g., Bednarz et al. 1990, Hoffman et al. 1992), have raised questions about trends of Golden Eagle populations. Only Pbur nesting Golden Eagle pairs are known in the eastern U.S in Maine, Tennessee, and Georgia with two pairs the result of introduction efforts in Tennessee and Georgia (Kochert et al. 2002). In addition, recent requests by Native Americans to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to harvest Golden Eagles for religious purposes have prompted the need to assess the status of the species in North America and to assess threats to populations (Bart et al. 1999). In this paper, we report information on the status and trends of Golden Eagle populations in the U.S. and Canada, and we discuss mortality •actors affecting eagle populations.