Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH
Volume 62, Issue 4, Pages 377-393Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10344-016-1010-4
Keywords
Aquila chrysaetos; California; Connectivity; Exploratory movements; Migration; Movement ecology
Funding
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) [P1182024, P148006]
- Bureau of Land Management (US BLM) [L11PX02237]
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Animal movements can determine the population dynamics of wildlife. We used telemetry data to provide insight into the causes and consequences of local and long-distance movements of multiple age classes of conservation-reliant golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the foothills and mountains near Tehachapi, California. We estimated size and habitat-related correlates of 324 monthly 95 % home ranges and 317 monthly 50 % core areas for 25 birds moving locally over 2.5 years. We also calculated daily, hourly, and total distances traveled for the five of these birds that engaged in long-distance movements. Mean (+/- SD) monthly home-range size was 253.6 +/- 429.4 km(2) and core-area size was 26.4 +/- 49.7 km(2). Consistent with expectations, space used by pre-adults increased with age and was season-dependent but, unexpectedly, was not sex-dependent. For all ages and sexes, home ranges and core areas were dominated by both forest & woodland and shrubland & grassland habitat types. When moving long distances, eagles traveled up to 1588.4 km (1-way) in a season at highly variable speeds (63.7 +/- 69.0 km/day and 5.2 +/- 10.4 km/h) that were dependent on time of day. Patterns of long-distance movements by eagles were determined by age, yet these movements had characteristics of more than one previously described movement category (migration, dispersal, etc.). Our results provide a context for differentiating among types of movement behaviors and their population-level consequences and, thus, have implications for management and conservation of golden eagle populations.
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