Brian Sewell | December 21, 2011 | 11 Comments
By Molly Moore
With their deep brown bodies and gold-tinged feathery manes, golden eagles are icons of ferocity.
An Eastern golden eagle is caught on film by a research camera. Clearings were baited with roadkill deer to attract the aerial predators. Photo by Barb Sargent/Todd Katzner
When Americans imagine a golden eagle diving through the air with talons outstretched, they typically pair the image with a Western backdrop. But as Appalachian researchers are quick to point out, the notion of golden eagles as strictly creatures of the West simply isn’t true.
“It turns out that there’s a small but substantial population of golden eagles in eastern North America,” says Todd Katzner, research assistant professor at West Virginia University. Katzner is a member of the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group, an international partnership founded in 2010 to study the mighty raptor’s distribution and ecology.
Katzner’s preliminary research suggests that West Virginia and Virginia are the eagles’ main winter stomping grounds, though golden eagles have been spotted wintering as far north as upstate New York and as far south as Florida. Eastern golden eagles breed in northeastern Canada. When they migrate south, they primarily winter in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains.
“We don’t know if there is a really strict habitat requirement, but we do know that the areas of West Virginia and Virginia where the birds are found are primarily the Monongohela National Forest and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests,” Katzner says. “Those are some of the more densely forested areas that we have in this region.”
In other parts of the world, golden eagles are found primarily over open country. This habitat difference has fueled speculation that Eastern golden eagles could be genetically distinct from their Western counterparts.
Maria Wheeler, a doctoral student at Duquesene University in Pittsburgh, Pa. co-supervised by Katzner, is researching the level of genetic distinction present in Eastern golden eagles. Not only is Wheeler studying how separate the Eastern birds are from Western North American populations and those around the world, she’s delving into the golden eagles’ genetic past. In a well-intentioned attempt to bolster the golden eagle population of the Southern Appalachians, Western golden eagles were introduced between 15 and 35 years ago, and these introductions may have changed the biology of Eastern goldens already living in the area.
To determine whether the genetic code of Eastern golden eagles’ has actually changed, Wheeler is collecting tissue samples from museum specimens of Eastern goldens collected before the introduction of the Western birds. She then compares the Eastern eagles’ historic genotypes with modern genotypes.
Wheeler’s genetic study is just one topic being probed by the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group and their collaborators. To understand the birds’ behavior in their Appalachian winter homes, researchers have placed over 80 motion-sensitive cameras at select sites between New York and North Carolina. These cameras are rigged in small, remote clearings that are baited with roadkill deer.
Over the past five years, thousands of images have been recorded at these sites. The high numbers affirm the raptor’s winter appetite for carrion.
Less certain is whether Eastern golden eagles dine on other birds during the summer, as some suggest. Katzner’s team has placed telemetry tracking devices on about 50 birds, which record location every fifteen minutes throughout the year. Research partners in Quebec have provided some summertime assistance, but often these goldens soar into the roadless territory of Canada’s far north.
Golden eagle researchers, including Katzner, hope that learning the raptor’s migratory flight patterns will help avoid conflicts between future wind energy development projects in Appalachia and the mighty birds. In the most famous conflict between the energy and avian worlds, at California’s Altamount Pass Wind Farm the failure to study bird movement patterns — as well as flawed turbine design — tragically led to high raptor death tolls from turbines.
By analyzing the risk golden eagles face from wind development, researchers could protect a range of other slopesoaring birds of prey, such as redtail hawks, broadwing hawks, bald eagles and osprey.
“In the East we know of no turbines that have killed golden eagles,” he says. “What we don’t understand is why some turbines are dangerous and some are not. The goal of our research is to figure that out.”
Golden eagles are monogamous, and their partnerships can last from several years to life. Females lay one to four eggs per year, which both parents incubate. Typically, one or two survive to fledgling age. The ladies are typically larger, but both sexes sport the species’ trademark plumage — a pattern of brown, gold, grey and sometimes even white feathers.
Golden eagles are used by Mongolian and Kazakh falconers to hunt wolves in Central Asia’s wild steppes. With a wingspan that averages from six to nearly eight feet, it’s no wonder that the only natural predators golden eagles face are brown bears and wolverines. There’s even one confirmed report of a golden eagle preying on a brown bear cub.
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2011 -- Issue 6 (Dec/Jan)
FERC extends MVP Southgate certificate for an additional three years
Community celebrates opening of new recreation area in Dante, Virginia
Dominion Energy’s lack of long-term planning remains clear as SCC proceedings conclude
Appalachian Voices statement on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s receipt of key Clean Water Act permit 
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Layers of injustice: Community concerns ignored as federal regulators allow Mountain Valley Pipeline to begin operation
A week of action to stop zombie coal mines
I was disappointed to see that this article does not make any mention of the “golden eagle” in Ron Rash’s novel,
Serena.
Recently, I was interviewed by Molly Moore and I understand that the article was in the last issue. How do I obtain a copy of that issue?
Gary Carden
We were just outside in our driveway and saw an unusually large bird fly over and perch in a tree about 100 yards away. This bird was much larger than any hawk we have ever seen, and it was brown all over with a dark beak. This obvious bird of prey had to be a golden eagle by process of elimination. So we looked this up and found images of goldens and this bird is a perfect match. Seen near the Blue Ridge Parkway mile marker 289 in Huckleberry Knob, between Boone and Blowing Rock. The time was about 6:30 pm and the date is March 20, 2012. This article validates that seeing a golden here, now, is plausible. Just fyi.
Dave Harman
Thanks for sharing, Dave. I didn’t mention this in the article, but I am based in Boone and out of personal interest I asked Dr. Katzner whether his research team had observed golden eagles in this portion of the Blue Ridge. He didn’t recall the precise camera locations, but said yes, they are monitoring in this general area. I’m keeping an eye out, but haven’t seen one yet!
I think i just saw one on the west side of north mountian 3 miles south of hedgesville in WV. Would a juvenile bald eagle be brown this time of year?
We live North of Beaver PA above an area known as Bradys Ridge & Bradys Park Run. We almost seem to have a nesting pair of Golden Eagles that cross our property several times a week to a couple (they have their favorites) trees overlooking a large corn field beside our home. We do not have a high powered Scouting Scope so I can’t get a detailed view but they are exceptionally large with some white markings about the wings. Would this be an area they would normally settle to nest from fall thru Winter? Thinking it’s time to get us a scouting scope.
My family and I have spotted a golden eagle twice on the way into our cabin located in Williamsville, VA (Highland County) on route 678 (Bullpasture River Road) leaving McDowell, VA. What a beautiful bird, added to the already abundant bird wildlife including the bald eagle and several different hawks. I have had close encounters with bald eagles but I never expected to see a golden eagle…which caused me to do my own research. I’m not a bird watcher but wow!
I saw a huge golden eagle picking at road kill on VA-311/Kanawha Trail around Crows/Hematite area in Virginia this past summer. It was beautiful, it opened it’s wings to take a short flight away from the road and had a huge wingspan.
I live in The Villages, a large retirement community (100,000+ residents) in Central Florida. Yesterday, out walking the dog, I heard a loud kee-kee, kee-kee-kee-kee coming from a large live oak tree. Then a large, very dark bird flew from the tree with a small bird in his talons. Much, much larger than any hawk, and definitely not a mature bald eagle, it could only be either a golden eagle or an immature bald eagle. The Villages is a virtual bird sanctuary where I’ve encountered many species that aren’t supposed to be in Florida. Question: has anyone encountered golden eagles in Florida?
Two days ago, Mon. 3-30-15, I saw a flock of huge dark brown birds
fly over, then another, then another flock. I was looking toward the east with my binoculars. The birds were heading from north to south. I couldn’t distinguish their markings. We are in Rogersville, northeast Tennessee. Do Eagles fly in flocks?
I spied what I identified as a Golden Eagle fly down Riceville Road in Buncumbe County just outside Asheville, NC. It had a huge wingspan approx 6 or feet. What a great moment.
I was just at the boat ramp at the end of Campbell Road near Springfield WV – at the Blue Ford South boat ramp. I saw what appeared to be a Golden Eagle just meandering along the river. It’s fairly remote out there. This is in Hampshire County, WV, in the Potomac Highlands. Beautiful country and what a nice surprise to see such a majestic bird!