For those who are curious, here’s how we try to determine the number of golden eagle nests in an area (for those concerned about tax dollars, these aren’t. This is money from oil and gas leases, which is fitting since they are some of the issues causing the problems.)
Golden eagles need either cliffs or very large trees to nest in (Bald eagles nest primarily in really big trees near water). So to find Golden Eagles (the primary target of this study) here’s what we do:
We fly above rivers looking in the trees (and watching out for powerlines!), check out cliffs along rivers and up drainages,
and cliffs in the mountains
Typical Golden Eagle nest with 2 chicks
Bald Eagle nest with adult and chick in a cottonwood tree on the river.
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