The first case of successful breeding of a Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos tracked from birth by satellite telemetry

Abstract

The natal dispersal of a Golden Eagle from its natal eyrie to the site where it reproduced for the first time was monitored. After covering > 16 000 km2 in its three years of juvenile dispersal, and despite flying > 130 km from its natal site, the eagle finally settled in a vacant territory just 26 km away from the place where it had hatched. Almost 95% of the total dispersal area was visited for the first time during the first year of tracking; less than 40% of the dispersal area was used during the remainder of the dispersal period. During dispersal the eagle regularly visited territories occupied by adult Golden Eagles. Previous records of the occupancy of the territory the eagle currently occupies show an alternation between periods when it remained vacant with periods when subadults occupied it. Although the other member of the breeding pair is also a subadult eagle, the birds managed to raise two fledglings.