Bald Eagle Population Monitoring & Inventory
We have been monitoring bald eagle populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1980. We focus on birds of prey as windows into understanding the health of biological systems and as surrogates for those poorly understood systems.
Raptors function at the top of food chains, the ecological equivalent of wolves and cougars with wings. If we succeed at conserving and sustaining habitats needed by these predators, we can expect to conserve much of the less understood web of life on which they depend.
- Monitoring. Wide use of DDT and random shooting had imperiled our national symbol even in this largely protected region. But in 2002 we monitored 54 bald eagle breeding areas within the same study area, a truly phenomenal recovery of a species that was in trouble.
- Long-term research. We have learned that bald eagles generally need nesting areas that are secure from human intrusion and that the species is tolerant of considerable human activity within the remainder of its home ranges. Even after 30 years we continue to refine our understanding of this bird’s habits.
- Contributing to conservation. We work closely with land management agencies and landowners to sustain habitat values. Much of our work, in fact, has been funded by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Our ongoing work is contributing to very active conservation programs, such as those on the South Fork Snake River and lower Henry’s Fork and in Teton Valley, Idaho, where our data is being used in the Teton Regional Land Trust’s conservation planning exercise.