Conservation Science Global

TO CONDUCT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

NATIONAL FISH & WILDLIFE FEDERATION (NFWF): RESEARCH ON GOLDEN EAGLE MOVEMENTS IN WYOMING FOR THE WYOMING GOLDEN EAGLE FUND. WIND POWER GENERATION IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SOURCES OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. HOWEVER, INDUSTRIAL SCALE WIND DEVELOPMENT HAS BOTH DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE. WITH AN INSTALLED CAPACITY OF 1,488 MW IN WYOMING, THERE IS AN ESTABLISHED HISTORY OF NEGATIVE TURBINE-WILDLIFE IMPACTS, ESPECIALLY ON GOLDEN EAGLES (AQUILA CHRYSAETOS). UNDERSTANDING FLIGHT BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO WEATER VARIABLES IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF GOLDEN EAGLES AT WIND FACILITIES. IN 2020, WE CONDUCTED STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF TELEMETRY DATA COLLECTED FROM 44 GOLDEN EAGLES THAT WERE CAPTURED AND TAGGED IN WYOMING FROM 2017 - 2020. AS OF JUNE 2020, WE HAD COLLECTED > 5 MILLION GPS LOCATIONS. WE CALCULATED A SUITE OF FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS FOR EACH BIRD EACH HOUR. WE EXPECTED THAT CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF FLIGHT, NAMELY, LONGER FLIGHT TIMES, HIGHER FLIGHT PATH TORTUOSITY, AND LOWER FLIGHT ALTITUDES INCREASED RISK OF EXPOSURE TO WIND TURBINES. WE EXAMINED HOW EACH OF THESE RESPONSES WAS INFLUENCED BY TIME OF DAY, TIME OF YEAR, AND WEATHER. WE PRESENTED RESULTS OF THIS WORK AT TWO SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES,THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION AND THE ANNUAL WYOMING GOLDEN EAGLE WORKING GROUP MEETING.

US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS): RESEARCH ON GOLDEN EAGLE MOVEMENT ECOLOGY IN ALASKA. THIS PROGRAM SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF GOLDEN EAGLES THAT ARE RESIDENTS OF DENALI NATIONAL PARK. DURING 2020 WE MANAGE THE TELEMETRY DATA ASSOCIATED WITH 45 GOLDEN EAGLES THAT WERE CAPTURED IN DENALI NATIONAL PARK FROM 2014 - 2018.

COMMON RAVEN POPULATIONS ARE INCREASING DRAMATICALLY IN CALIFORNIA AND COMMON RAVENS ARE AN IMPORTANT PREDATOR OF THE THREATENED DESERT TORTOISES. TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF RAVEN PREDATION ON TORTOISES, MANAGEMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPED A PHASED MANAGEMENT PLAN TO REDUCE PREDATION RATES. TWO KEY ASSUMPTIONS OF THE PLAN ARE THAT NESTING RAVENS STAY WITHIN 900 M OF THE NEST AND THAT URBAN RAVENS STAY IN HUMAN-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENTS AND RARELY, IF EVER, STRAY INTO NATURAL SETTINGS. WE ARE USING MODERN GPS-GSM TELEMETRY SYSTEMS TO FOLLOW MOVEMENTS OF RAVENS TRAPPED IN OR NEAR URBAN SETTINGS AND ARE TESTING BOTH OF THESE ASSUMPTIONS TO INFORM MANAGEMENT OF COMMON RAVENS IN CALIFORNIA.

ADDITIONAL PROGRAM EXPENSES SUPPORTED ANALYSIS AND DATA COLLECTION FOR PROJECT TRACKING BALD EAGLES IN THE UPPER MIDWEST, USA, GOLDEN EAGLES IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, AND BLACK VULTURES IN WEST VIRGINIA.