{"id":95349,"date":"2019-02-28T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wildlife-managers-track-eagles-movements-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2019-02-28T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T12:00:00","slug":"wildlife-managers-track-eagles-movements-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wildlife-managers-track-eagles-movements-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife managers track eagles\u2019 movements in Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife tracked an eagle from its nesting grounds in Southwest Colorado to Idaho and back. Outfitted with a transmitter, Eagle B-75 made the journey in about 40 days. The tracking study will help wildlife managers understand how eagles use the landscape, said Brian Magee, a land-use coordinator with CPW.<\/span>David Holub\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Eagle B-75 spends most of her time in Durango, fishing the Animas River and picking off easy prey \u2013 usually prairie dogs \u2013 in surrounding farmlands. But a few summers ago, the female bald eagle treated herself to a bit of a vacation.<\/p>\n

The 11-pound eagle started north, taking just six hours to fly to Grand Mesa (the trip takes about 4\u00bd hours in a car). She then spent some time at Flaming Gorge Reservoir, likely feasting on the waterway\u2019s renowned trout and salmon, before taking off toward Wind River in Wyoming.<\/p>\n

Like most tourists, Eagle B-75 stopped in Yellowstone National Park. But unlike other tourists, she probably ate rodents for dinner. She then soared the skies of Idaho before deciding it was time to get home, taking nearly the exact same path back to Durango.<\/p>\n

The entire journey, which covered more than 1,500 miles round-trip, took Eagle B-75 just about 40 days.<\/p>\n

The details of her flight come from a Colorado Parks and Wildlife tracking study that aims to tag eight bald and\/or golden eagles in the Durango area to gain a better understanding of the birds\u2019 migration and behavior habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout having those transmitters on it, we would never have known where that eagle was,\u201d said Brian Magee, a land-use coordinator with CPW. \u201cWe would just assume we missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A need to track<\/div>\n

In 2011, BP American Production Co. signed a sort of good faith agreement with CPW vowing to minimize its impacts to wildlife and habitat loss from oil and gas extraction in the San Juan Basin. Part of that agreement had BP donate funds for wildlife study, some of which are now being used for the eagle tracking project.<\/p>\n

A spokesman with BP did not return requests seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Though eagles were taken off the endangered species list, the iconic bird is still under federal protection. So when any project is proposed that would alter the landscape, such as drilling new wells, building a new road or putting in a subdivision, potential impacts to eagles have to be considered.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is currently tracking five bald eagles and one golden eagle in Southwest Colorado. Wildlife managers say the project will help them make recommendations for how new developments can ease their impact on eagle habitat.<\/span>Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In Colorado, that task usually falls to CPW, which must provide recommendations to best protect eagles from new developments. This tracking study, which will provide insight for wildlife managers about how eagles use the landscape, will better inform those recommendations, Magee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of dollars of economic activity are tied up in our recommendations, so we want to have the best information out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first eagles in this part of Southwest Colorado were collared with tracking devices in 2014. One more or less stays in a 5-mile radius around Durango year-round and doesn\u2019t like to leave its nesting territory. The other, Eagle B-75, is the traveler.<\/p>\n

From 2014 to 2018, CPW tried to tag more eagles, unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

Capturing a live adult eagle, a smart and cunning hunter that can weigh up to 15 pounds and unleash piercing talons, is pretty difficult, said CPW\u2019s Jon Holst,<\/p>\n

As a result, wildlife officials changed their capturing tactics. Now, Holst said CPW goes out in winter, using bait when other easily available food sources, such as prairie dogs, are under the frozen ground.<\/p>\n

Already, CPW has tagged three more eagles, bringing its total to five bald eagles and one golden. The project has funding for two more taggings. The transmitters, which are expected to last at least five years, send a signal back to CPW offices, allowing wildlife officials to see where the birds are about every hour on an interactive map.<\/p>\n

Back from the brink<\/div>\n

By the 1970s, hunting and agricultural pesticides had driven the animal that is America\u2019s national symbol to the brink of extinction. But in recent years, eagle populations have rebounded and stabilized. In 2007, bald eagles were taken off the endangered species list.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty, 30 years ago, it was a big deal to see an eagle, and now it\u2019s relatively common,\u201d Holst said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the great conservation success stories in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Segin, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said a 2016 report estimated there are 40,000 golden eagles and 143,000 bald eagles throughout the United States. It also concluded bald eagle populations are increasing at about 5 percent every year, while golden eagle populations appear to remain stable.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, more specifically, only one bald eagle nest was documented in a 1974 study. In 2017, however, CPW reported nearly 200 nests.<\/p>\n

\"The
The transmitters on the eagles are expected to last at least five years. They send a signal back to Colorado Parks and Wildlife offices about every hour and allow wildlife managers to track the eagles\u2019 movements on an interactive map.<\/span>Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But there are continued risks to the eagle as more land is developed.<\/p>\n

On Colorado\u2019s Front Range, for instance, increasing population growth, resulting in rapid construction of housing developments, along with a booming oil and gas industry, pose real threats to eagles, said Dana Bove, a retired federal geologist who founded Front Range Nesting Bald Eagle Studies, a nonprofit eagle advocacy group.<\/p>\n

While CPW can make suggestions about how new developments can ease their impact to eagles, Bove says more enforceable measures need to be put in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an issue everywhere in Colorado,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something we\u2019re certainly looking to address to see if there\u2019s a way we can make some changes in state law that would give recommended buffers some real teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado\u2019s eagles<\/div>\n

CPW\u2019s Holst said it\u2019s too early to draw any conclusions from the eagle tracking study in Southwest Colorado, but already, wildlife managers are witnessing behaviors that go against previous thinking.<\/p>\n

CPW has documented anywhere from 16 to 20 active bald and golden eagle nest sites throughout La Plata and Montezuma counties, as well as hundreds of bald eagles that spend winters in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never had transmitters on eagles down here before, so we thought the eagles nesting here in the winter went north in the summer,\u201d Holst said.<\/p>\n

Instead, trackers show nesting eagles typically stay around the region.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, with the new information in hand, CPW may be able to identify a site where eagles go to hunt. Then, in the future, if any projects were proposed there, the agency could recommend avoiding the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we see a spot where an eagle goes to hit spawning trout, maybe that\u2019s a place we need to protect,\u201d Holst said.<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transmitters provide illuminating insights into birds\u2019 behaviors, migration habits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1030,13,603],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-95349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-environment","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-wildlife"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95349"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=95349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}