Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wyoming
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Migratory wildlife can experience unique challenges and stressors across seasons, yet information often is lacking for one or more portions of the annual cycle. We are partnering with the Teton Raptor Center in Jackson WY to investigate the habitat use of golden eagles that winter in Wyoming. The first project objective is to investigate the use of risky landscape elements, with a focus on major roadways because of carrion availability, and the factors (e.g., snow depth, temperature, time of season) that may modulate such use. The second objective is to evaluate how habitat selection by over-wintering eagles changes with age and experience. The project is leveraging a large existing data set of transmittered eagles across multiple years. Results will inform the extent to which this sensitive species may be at risk of mortality from automobiles and other landscape stressors, and under which contexts.