Aquila chrysaetos (Golden Eagle)
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
about the species
The Golden Eagle occupies a wide variety of habitats in California except for the Central Valley, the Channel Islands, the high Sierras, and the Salton Sea Trough. It ranges greatly in elevation; some individuals travel to southern Baja California and others travel to Canada, whereas some adults never leave an particular California county. There is only one subspecies known across all of North America. This is the largest avian predator in California and might be a keystone species in some ecosystems. Their primary prey are jack rabbits and squirrels and historic removal of these "pests" from agricultural lands might have impacted the eagle distribution.
why species was selected
This species is impacted by the implementation of renewable energy infrastructure and urbanization. It has been shown to avoid areas near cities, leading to reduced eagle use areas and a restriction to areas away from development. Wildfires have reduced tree nesting options for this species in some areas, restricting them to limited cliffsides. This species seems to be a great surrogate for patterns of range reduction statewide for other highly vagile species, thus a good species for this study.
